Canterbury have cemented their spot at the top of the NRL ladder after a Stephen Crichton-led comeback negated a first-half masterclass by the second-placed Canberra Raiders.

The Bulldogs scored 32 unanswered points to overturn a 20-point deficit at halftime and silence the GIO Stadium faithful on Saturday afternoon.

The 32-20 win puts Canterbury four points clear at the top of the league, with eight wins from nine matches.

But coach Cameron Ciraldo will be concerned over the fitness of second-rower Jaeman Salmon, who limped from the field with an apparent injured ankle in the second half.

Salmon had scored the Bulldogs’ second try following a Stephen Crichton linebreak, then looked to goad the sell-out 23,827 crowd, appearing to point to himself and shout “weak-gutted dog”, in reference to a comment by Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.

Crichton was instrumental to the Canterbury comeback, scoring their first try after the interval as well as assisting their second.

Winger Marcelo Montoya notched their third before prop forward Max King surged over from close range to put the Bulldogs in the lead after 58 minutes.

The turn-around was rapid, with the Bulldogs going from 0 to 22 in less than 15 minutes.

It was a stark contrast from the first half, when it looked like the dominant Raiders would run away with it.

Canberra second-rower Hudson Young asserted his case for a State of Origin call-up, scoring his 10th try of the season as the home side scored four tries unanswered.

Second-rower Zac Hosking opened the scoring for the Raiders, powering over off a short ball from Tom Starling out of dummy half before fullback Kaeo Weekes continued his impressive run of form with the second.

Weekes appeared off the end of a decoy run and sliced past Matt Burton into a yawning hole.

Xavier Savage finished off a slick move after fast hands from Jamal Fogarty and Matty Nicholson put Matt Timoko into a gap, who drew Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey and served up a simple four-pointer to his winger.

But Canberra’s fine attacking form was absent in the second period, while the Bulldogs looked like another team after their halftime rev-up.

Tries to Viliame Kikau and Jacob Kiraz, who ran an impressive 148 metres and made 12 tackle busts, sealed the result.