Ben Cummins’ “six again” call will live with Canberra forever
This story should be about Canberra’s pride, about Josh Papalii, Jack Wighton and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad giving everything they had. But instead, it will always be about “six again”, writes NICK CAMPTON.
Opinion
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There won’t be as many Raiders fans around Monday as there were 24 hours earlier, and if you see one, please keep a respectful distance.
Every Raiders fan knows about losing — it’s been 25 years between grand finals — but getting done on the big stage, in front of the world, is a new kind of pain.
Canberra fans will feel like they’ve had their hearts ripped out of their chest and kicked all the way back to Lidcombe Station.
There will be tears and bitter memories after a day that began with so much promise turned sour.
But no Raider should despair. Rugby league rides are about the journey, not the destination, and part of the journey is the end. Good or bad ending.
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That’s what I wanted this story be to about. If the Raiders were to lose, then let it be with an indomitable spirit, and let it be on their own merits. No side can ask for more than that.
But there is no easy way to digest what happened in the 72nd minute when there was a challenge for a Jack Wighton bomb near the Roosters line.
James Tedesco appeared
to touch it and referee Ben Cummins duly waved six again for Canberra, deep in the Roosters’ attacking 20. The Raiders, seeing this, played it safe and took the tackle.
And then, inexplicably, the referee ruled a handover. And in the blink of an eye, Tedesco had scored down the other end and won the grand final.
Referees are human. Mistakes are part of the game and that is an inalienable truth of any sport.
But it’s a struggle to explain this away, via the technicalities of the rules or some arcane clause the NRL drags out of nowhere, just like there is no way to fill the hole in the heart of every Raiders fan.
I don’t want to write about these things. Rugby league’s attitude towards referees is one of the worst parts of the sport. But you cannot ignore these things, either.
I want to write about Jared Waerea-Hargreaves ripping Canberra apart up the middle early. I want to write about Josh Papalii responding in kind in the second half.
I want to write about Jack Wighton rising to the level that his coach Ricky Stuart always knew lurked within and becoming that rarest of beasts — a deserved man of the match in a losing side.
I want to write about Daniel Tupou playing the game of his life and about Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad giving everything he had until his body failed him. I want to write about Brett Morris turning into Matt Sing and saving every try.
I want to write about the Roosters doing what nobody else has done for almost three decades, not with the aid of dodgy calls but because they were the better side.
I want to write about the Raiders rising to the occasion, looking every bit the Roosters equal, defying the pre-match predictions and turning the match into a classic.
I want to write about the Tricolours holding their line under a lime green blitzkrieg.
I want to write about Mal Meninga blowing the horn and 50,000 Raiders rising as one for the Viking Clap. It felt like a million.
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Defeat hurts, and this one probably always will. I can’t think of another grand final loss quite like it.
When the green horde slinks back down the Hume Highway, it will be a silent trip back to the capital.
There’s still everything else that happened this year, and that will never fade.
But for as long as they live, no Raiders fan will forget Ben Cummins raising his fist to the sky and waving six again.