NRL Round 23 2024: Ricky Stuart fumes as Manly Sea Eagles win 46-24 over Canberra Raiders
Manly have dealt a massive blow to the Raiders finals hopes, but Canberra coach Ricky Stuart will be fuming after some controversial calls cost his side dearly.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A crucial call in the lead up to halftime was the turning point in Canberra’s 46-24 flogging at home on old boys’ day.
Adam Cook came off the bench for the Raiders and was about to be sent over for a try before seemingly knocking the ball on.
The referee called it a knock on but a captain’s challenge revealed Cook got a boot to the ball before it hit the ground.
Cook continued the play and scored but it couldn’t have been ruled a try by the bunker because the referee called knock on before Cook put the ball down.
It was ruled a mutual infringement and Raiders got the ball back but not the try.
But Raiders coach Ricky Stuart wasn’t blaming the on-field official for missing the little Cook kick.
“We’d go ahead going into halftime. I won’t blame Grant Atkins for that but it was a poor miss,” Stuart said.
“I don’t know if you’d put it down as a turning point but it was a really important part of the game.”
It was a crucial call by the on-field referee because Manly turned it into a 12-point turnaround shortly after when Tom Trbojevic swept through the Raiders defence to send Ethan Bullemor over on halftime.
More pain was to come for the Raiders as their finals hopes slowly faded away on a day that was supposed to be a celebration.
PENALISE PROTESTERS
When are the referees going to crack down on players refusing to play the ball if they think they can stay down for a penalty?
Joseph Tapine got up from a tackle early in the match and just stood there holding his face and hoping the bunker would look at it and award his team a penalty for a high shot.
The referee kept asking him to play the ball but he wouldn’t initially do it.
He should’ve been penalised for refusing to do what he was told by the official.
Karma came back to bite Tapine on the bum later in the game when he was sent to the sin bin for dissent after continuing to protest a lost captain’s challenge by the Raiders.
Tapine has been sent to the sin bin for dissent.
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) August 10, 2024
📺 Watch #NRLRaidersManly on ch. 502 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/hbq6qZq9aI
âœï¸ BLOG https://t.co/FJtb9rfqw3
🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/H2PL1hVHaMpic.twitter.com/tMafe4QQcM
The challenge involved a lifting tackle on Raiders half Jamal Fogarty who appeared to be lifted past the horizontal by Luke Brooks but landed on his backside so it didn’t look too bad.
“I don’t blame the referee for that, I blame the people that are in his ear,” Stuart said.
“I’ve heard the people in their ears. You get confused by all that, which is why I don’t blame Grant on the other decision.
“It’s the messages that they’re getting that are confusing refs. I’ve said that for years.”
The Sea Eagles ran riot when Tapine was off the field, running in three tries to put the game to bed.
“The guys used their weapons really well here on old boys’ day and with Papa (Papalii) playing his 301st game there was always going to be a lot of emotion attached,” Manly coach Anthony Seibold said.
“Tom (Trbojevic) was outstanding today. He injected himself into the game early and defensively he was good. He saved a couple of tries.
“I feel like we’ve got more in us. We’ve got so much talent and the boys are working really hard and are getting better.”
Luke Brooks was fantastic with three try assists and now he needs to back it up as his team looks to make a charge to the top four.
“We just lost all our defensive systems and started defending as individuals and not units,” Stuart said.“We just got completely blown away by two classy players in Cherry-Evans and (Tom) Trbojevic.”
The sin-binning was a big blow but the home side can’t blame it entirely.
The night before Penrith was down by 14 points and had Liam Martin in the sin bin but they still won the match away from home.
Manly now has a chance to finish in the top four and it could come down to the final game of the season when they host the current fourth-placed Cronulla at home.
301 MAN
Josh Papali’i crashed over in the first half for his 63rd career try in his 301st match which is a very good strike rate for a prop.
It’s a shame his team didn’t mark the occasion with a win.
“I felt they should’ve put in a better effort for Josh,” Mal Meninga said.
The opening 30 minutes showed Canberra was up for the occasion but the Raiders have a history of not winning a milestone game.
Remember when they got belted in Jarrod Croker’s 300th match against the Warriors last year?
“We had all the reasons in the world to win tonight,” Raiders skipper Elliott Whitehead said.“It was Papa’s big home game and all the old boys were here. We dished out 20 minutes of football where we just let ourselves down.”
More Coverage
Originally published as NRL Round 23 2024: Ricky Stuart fumes as Manly Sea Eagles win 46-24 over Canberra Raiders
Broncos’ Bellamy blunder: How Brisbane fumbled Bennett successor
It’s the sliding doors moment that cost Brisbane the signing of Craig Bellamy and put Melbourne on the path to a two-decade dynasty. See the inside story of how the Broncos botched their Wayne Bennett succession plan.
Grand Final late mail: Massive boost for Panthers as star cleared
The Penrith Panthers have received a massive boost on the eve of their grand final clash against the Melbourne Storm, with a star forward cleared to play after overcoming injury.