NRL 2020: Raiders burn Roosters in changeroom celebration
Canberra added to the Roosters’ pain after a brave win with a cheeky changeroom quip that reminded the Bondi boys exactly what happened.
NRL
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The Roosters were licking their wounds after a loss to Canberra last night but the Green Machine was in party mode.
Decimated by injury and being written off by many as premiership contenders, the Raiders pulled off a gutsy 24-20 win at the SCG in a rematch of last year’s grand final.
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The tri-colours had all the ball in the first half and peppered Canberra’s line but Ricky Stuart’s men held firm and went into the break down by only six points, despite the weight of possession against them suggesting the deficit should have been far greater.
The second 40 minutes was enthralling as both sides threw punches but the Raiders held on for one of their most memorable wins.
Their joy was evident in the changeroom after full-time as they belted out the team song, hoping their opponents would hear it in the home sheds as the Raiders celebrated the fact they’d “just kicked the Roosters’ a***”.
WATCH THE RAIDERS SING THE TEAM SONG IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
Stuart had been vocal during the week about how his team — coming off a short, five-day turnaround — hadn’t been given the respect it deserved for the blockbuster match. But that didn’t matter as the club defied the odds to record the brave four-point win.
“Not many people gave us a chance tonight outside of the people at the club,” Stuart said.
“I said last week I don’t care what people say or think because they don’t know what’s actually under the jumper or what we’re built on.
“I’m very proud of the players. It’s just another win. We just have to keep that heart and style of play and move on to the next match.’’
RELATED: Josh Papalii gets his revenge
Stuart was proud of his players but unimpressed with the officials after Josh Papalii was penalised for retaliating when he copped a whack in a tackle with Angus Crichton. The Roosters back-rower was scrambling for a quick play-the-ball and hit Papalii in the face with his elbow, prompting the Raiders prop to hit back and earn the referee’s ire.
“When he got whacked in the nose, and I don’t understand why we didn’t get the penalty, but when he got whacked in the nose like that I was pretty confident we were going to go on and win this match because they poked the bear,” Stuart said.
“I have got a lot more to say about it but I don’t want to be the one whingeing … again.”
The Roosters made double the amount of errors as Canberra on a wet night in Sydney but coach Trent Robinson was more concerned with his side’s defence.
“You’ve just got to man up and make your tackles,” Robinson said. “The guys were in position enough to make them right through to the end.
“It’s on all of us but we just weren’t strong enough to hold that. You can talk about missed opportunities, and we did have too many errors with the ball.
“In the end if you have a scrappy game and let two tries in you’re still going to have an opportunity to come away with the win. Four tries? I think we had maybe four the week before (against Melbourne), three last week (against North Queensland), four again – now you’re tossing a coin.
“We’ve come down on the wrong side two out of three weeks. That’s on us … It’s just frustrating. I think we’re all feeling that hurt, especially from those four tries.”
Originally published as NRL 2020: Raiders burn Roosters in changeroom celebration