Matt Orford's NRL return turned into a nightmare as Brisbane handed rookie coach Anthony Griffin his first top grade win with a 20-4 victory over Canberra in the nation's capital on Friday night .

Orford, back in the NRL after a one-year stint with Bradford in Super League, found the going tough as the Raiders looked a shadow of the side which romped past Cronulla in round one.

Winger Daniel Vidot's knock-on from the kickoff was an ominous sign as Josh Hoffman capitalised on some poor defence to give the visitors the lead.

The Raiders threatened when Blake Ferguson scored from a Josh McCrone bomb, but the spark of his combination with rookie halfback Sam Williams against the Sharks last week was nowhere to be seen.

The Broncos struggled under the high ball but the Raiders failed to take advantage of the good field position, the home side not helped by David Shillington uncharacteristically dropping the ball twice in the first half before coming off with a knee injury shortly after half time.

A great pass from Broncos half Peter Wallace saw Matt Gillett score in the 59th minute, with the visitors taking complete control when Jharal Yow Yeh brilliantly kicked through for himself to score for an 18-4 lead before Corey Parker added a late penalty goal for Brisbane's first win in Canberra since 2005.

Griffin was pleased with the win and in particular the try to Yow Yeh, whom he coached in Brisbane's youth team.

"He's got a bucket-load of talent," Griffin said.

"When he gets a bit of space and he gets that kick in the right spot he's just got a knack of being able to execute something like that."

Broncos captain Darren Lockyer said his team had been brought down to earth by their round one loss to North Queensland but came to Canberra "with the right attitude." "We had a bit to play for. They came off a soft win," Lockyer said.

Raiders coach David Furner lamented his side's poor execution.

"We didn't start that well, straight off the kick-off making an error," Furner said.

He thought at halftime the Raiders were still in the game.

"I think we were winning the energy battle despite the short-turn around," he said.

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