NRL 2020: Josh Papalii’s ‘incredible’ act of revenge as Raiders upset Roosters
The Raiders weren’t considered a threat to the Roosters in the grand final rematch but a bloodied nose saw Josh Papalii see red.
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The Canberra Raiders have claimed an upset 24-20 win over the Sydney Roosters in a grand final rematch at the SCG that has more than lived up to expectations.
The match had everything with entertaining attack, big defence, some spiteful moments and an ever-changing scoreboard that went right down to the final minute.
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This was despite a five-day turnaround for the Raiders and a massive injury list.
In one of the side’s best wins in recent memory, the Raiders showed just why they were considered the favourites before the season and are still one of the teams to beat with a gutsy win.
While the Roosters are red hot, the Raiders, who hadn’t played at the SCG since the 1987 grand final loss to the Manly Sea Eagles, put in from the opening whistle as they sought some revenge.
An early try under the post showed the Raiders were here to play with Dunamis Lui scoring first.
But the Roosters hit back with Brett Morris claiming the 161st and 162nd tries of his career with a brilliant double in the corner.
In a sign the Raiders aren’t going to go quietly for the rest of the season, Canberra hit back in the first couple of minutes of the second half with Jarrod Croker grounding a grubber to tie it up at 12-all.
In a game that had everything, it even had some bad blood with a tackle from Josh Papalii on Angus Crichton leading to some pushing and shoving.
The Roosters’ Crichton had accidentally — or carelessly or maliciously depending on who you ask — elbowed the Raiders prop in the nose, which he didn’t take too kindly to.
WATCH IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE.
Some were shocked that the penalty went Sydney’s way.
Josh Papali reacts to an elbow in the shnoz and gets penalised? #NRLRoostersRaiders
— Anthony Field (@Anthony_Wiggle) July 16, 2020
Only in rugby league can someone elbow you in the nose and you get penalised #NRL
— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) July 16, 2020
As always, the bunker doesn’t step in #NRLRoostersRaiders
— Becko (@beckodotcom) July 16, 2020
Crichton then also got the penalty with Kyle Flanagan kicking the Roosters into the lead 14-12.
The Raiders responded as halfback George Williams did it all himself, before Josh Morris threw a flick for Matt Ikuvalu to score his first of the night — and sixth in the last two games — before Flanagan kicked a sideline conversion to make it 20-18 with 20 minutes remaining.
With the game on the line and predictions the Raiders would need to keep it low scoring and close blown out of the water, Papalii hurt the Roosters more than an elbow on the nose — hitting a short pass from Tom Starling and running untouched 25m to the line to snatch back the lead 24-20.
It was a perfect run from Papalii, breezing to the line and scoring the winning try.
Big Papalii steams through 😤#NRLRoostersRaiders#TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/Nf3s4T4X6v
— NRL (@NRL) July 16, 2020
The Roosters tried to hit back but poor handling mixed with a couple of forward passes saw the Raiders hold on for a famous win.
Another downside for the Roosters was a suspected medial cruciate ligament strain for Crichton, who came from the field late.
Initial indication from the Roosters is a suspected MCL sprain for Angus Crichton, whilst the hope is it isn’t serious Trent Robinson considers him unlikely for next week.
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) July 16, 2020
In better news Nat Butcher (ribs) likely to be available in Round 11, pain relief/chest guard can help here pic.twitter.com/AD3znU7yI3
Papalii, who ran for over 200m in 18 runs and had 31 tackles in his 55 minutes on the field, was named man of the match. He was pumped by the performance especially with so many forwards injured.
“It was awesome (scoring three tries under the posts) we sort of just went back to basics with our game plan and it’s working at the moment and hopefully this is the start of something special,” he said.
Channel 9’s Andrew Johns called Papalii “absolutely incredible” as he led the way up front for the Raiders.
The Raiders had plenty of praise on social media for the performance as well.
Outstanding from the @RaidersCanberra. That victory was based on a heap of guts and courage. Brilliant from them. George Williams had a great game. Wow #NRLRoostersRaiders
— Peter Psaltis (@peterp79) July 16, 2020
Great win @RaidersCanberra - much respect #NRLRoostersRaiders
— Becko (@beckodotcom) July 16, 2020
Originally published as NRL 2020: Josh Papalii’s ‘incredible’ act of revenge as Raiders upset Roosters