The Raiders came back strongly in 1993, with their international stars Meninga, Ricky Stuart, Laurie Daley, Bradley Clyde and Steve Walters, as well as try scoring Fijian Noa Nadruku (22 tries for the season) leading the way. Canberra finished third after the minor round, and were premiership favourites until their fateful Round 21 match with the hapless Parramatta Eels at Bruce Stadium. Halfback Ricky Stuart badly broke and dislocated his right ankle in the second half and despite a club record 68–0 win, without their halfback and chief play maker, the Raiders fell apart. They lost their last minor round game to Canterbury-Bankstown 32–8, before meekly going out in straight sets in the finals with losses to eventual Grand Finalists St. George and premiers Brisbane. 1993 wasn't all bad though. Although Queensland lost their second straight State of Origin series under Menginga's captaincy, he did lead Australia to a Trans-Tasman Test series win over New Zealand in mid-season. Meninga though was forced to miss the first test at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland as he had been suspended for 2 weeks for the use of an elbow to Manly-Warringah's Welsh import centre John Devereux in the Raiders Round 10 match with the Sea Eagles at Brookvale Oval. After the Australians got away with a lucky 14-All draw in the first test, Meninga returned to the team (which was captained by New South Wales captain Laurie Daley in Auckland) for the second test win at Palmerston North on an extremely wet and cold night, as well the third test win at Lang Park.