Jack Wighton wasn't labelling his controversial no-try ruling against Manly as the reason why Canberra lost the crucial clash but was confident he had grounded the ball.
The playmaker looked to have opened the scoring at GIO Stadium on Sunday in the 16th minute off the back of a scything run before he crashed over the line in the tackle of Daly Cherry-Evans.
However, the on-field ruling of no-try was upheld despite Wighton appearing on replay to ground the ball with his arm and torso.
"I don't think there was any separation, I went down with the ball, I came up with the ball," Wighton told NRL.com.
"If anything, I think Croke's [Jarrod Croker's try] was more of a no-try last week against the Storm so it's a bit frustrating."
Wighton also had a chance to steal the win for the Raiders in the 77th minute but was caught with the ball on the short-side as he looked to find his outside man.
"I was planning on hitting Nicky [Cotric] but they jumped too quickly, and I got hit with it and so I took the tackle.
"But that's not what lost us the game, it was our drops, our ill-discipline and not following what we were going to do.
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"It's more frustrating we did nothing we talked about, we didn't complete or hold the ball and did the complete opposite.
"We knew exactly what they [Manly] were going to do and we failed to do what we wanted to do."
The loss stung particularly for the Raiders as it came in stark contrast with their victory over Melbourne the previous week that was built on the hallmarks that have defined much of Canberra's season.
A lack of discipline with the ball and penalties cruelled Canberra's chances of a comeback, with the loss putting a dent in their chances of a top-four finish as they are now in a three-way tie for third with Brisbane and Manly despite having a better for-and-against record.
Wighton said he felt for Josh Hodgson who threw the pass that led to the Manly intercept and subsequent eight-point try which turned the game on its head.
"It definitely wasn't good timing he's put many people away Hodgo so we trust his judgement and he picked that wrong but we back him up and we'll go again," he said.
"Everybody knows how good the big fella is playing and it was just one of those things that went the other way.
"But if he hits the chest of Toots [Croker] everybody would be shaking his hand."
After a huge month of football, including three games against sides inside the top four, Canberra coach Ricky Stuart said the side will have two days off training this week leading into Sunday's trip to Cronulla.
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"A little bit of 'us' time is always good, we've played some good footy this year and we've really found ourselves," Wighton said.
"But now is a good time to go away from the game and have a good think about things and to come back fresh."
Canberra will have to refocus quickly ahead of their clash with Cronulla on Sunday, with PointsBet Stadium set to be filled for Paul Gallen's last home game.
"Cronulla will take a lot out of what Manly did to us, to try and suck us into the dirty game and throw us off," Wighton said.
"So, something we'll have to focus on is to make sure we have a lot more discipline."
