‘Beggars belief’: Jordan Rapana act slammed as Raiders survive sin bin madness

The Raiders have pulled off an incredible win despite going two men down at one point before controversy erupted late in the game.

The Raiders had two sin bins early but there were questions over Jordan Rapana's late trip. Photo: Fox Sports and Getty Images

Canberra have pulled off one of the great wins to kick off Magic Round, coming back from being down to 11 men to defeat the Bulldogs 24-20.

Having gone from 12-0 up to 20-12 down after the Bulldogs scored four straight tries — three while the Raiders had players in the sin bin — Canberra showed plenty of fight to open Magic Round with a bang.

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Second rower Hudson Young scored two tries in nine minutes as the Raiders overwhelmed the Bulldogs to consolidate their place in the top eight.

But it came after Jordan Rapana and Josh Papali’i were both sin binned late in the first half, flipping the game on its head.

With three minutes left in the first half and Canberra leading 12-6, Bulldogs winger Josh Addo-Carr latched onto a cross-field kick before kicking for himself.

Addo-Carr was taken out without the ball. Photo: Fox Sports

While the kick was way too hard, Rapana came across and took out Addo-Carr well after the kick.

It was sent up as a possible penalty try but referee Ashley Klein stated he had ruled out the penalty try as the kick went way too deep.

However, the Bunker came back with a professional foul, claiming Rapana “has time to pull out”.

The Bulldogs scored straight away after the sin bin, but were then given a massive advantage when Papali’i was deemed to have performed a hip drop tackle on Viliame Kikau.

It wasn't a good look. Photo: Fox Sports

Papali'i was sat down for the hip drop. Photo: Fox Sports

During the two-man advantage, the Bulldogs scored another two tries, taking a 20-12 lead just two minutes into the second half.

But when it was back to 13-on-13, the Raiders hit back as Young scored in the 51st and 60th minutes to give the Raiders the lead.

It was a four-point scoreline the Raiders would hang onto for the remainder of the game but controversy erupted five minutes from full-time.

A slick offload saw Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney into the backfield when he kicked ahead, only to be tripped as Rapana stuck his leg out after attempting a charge down.

The ball then went towards the in-goal with Matt Burton chasing for the Bulldogs, while Kaeo Weeks, Young and Sebastian Kris followed up.

There was some jostling in the lead up while Young also appeared to tackle Burton without the ball.

However, the Bunker official Adam Gee determined that although it was worth a penalty for “illegal contact”, Rapana was allowed to stay on the field.

The contact on the goal line was deemed to have been “everyone competing for the ball” and cleared the contact, much to Burton’s chagrin as he threw his arms in the air.

Fox League’s Andrew Voss said: “I don’t know how Hudson Young is competing for the ball but anyway.”

“He is lucky to still be on the field,” Greg Alexander said of Rapana.

Voss argued: “It’s a try scoring situation.”

Alexander: “And it’s not an accident.”

What was Rapana thinking? Photo: Fox Sports

Burton was seemingly tackled without the ball. Photo: Fox Sports

Fans erupted over the situation, slamming the call to allow Rapana to stay on the field.

NCA Newswire’s Martin Gabor posted on X: “The decision to not send Rapana off/to the sin bin beggars belief. Not only does he have form with this stuff, but the NRL literally admitted on Monday that trips like that need to be punished more severely after Papali’i was allowed to stay on the field.”

Sports reporter Bernie Coen added: “How can Rapana not be sin binned for that!!!!”

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they couldn’t break the line after an awful pass from Burton at dummy half was knocked on by Mahoney on the fifth tackle.

But while it wouldn’t be the NRL without controversy, post-match Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo wasn’t making any excuses.

When asked about the Mahoney situation, Ciraldo said: “But we had 36 tackles inside their 20 and didn’t come up with anything there either. We have to fix our mentality towards attack more than getting more opportunities down there, that was the major problem.”

It is the Raiders’ sixth win of the season and ensures they can’t be dislodged from the top eight at the end of the round.

Young said it meant a lot to claim a win like that, particularly when the club was celebrating the 1994 premiership winning side.

“Sticky (coach Ricky Stuart) means so much to us boys, to be able to do that for him and have him here for another 20 years or however long he’s signed, it’s so good,” Young said post-match.

Originally published as ‘Beggars belief’: Jordan Rapana act slammed as Raiders survive sin bin madness