NRL 2024: Canterbury Bulldogs defeat Sydney Roosters 30-26, Dom Young sent off for horror high shot

Roosters coach Trent Robinson has deemed the sending off of star winger Dom Young to be “a bit over the top”, believing it’s opened up a new level for more send offs in the game.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 05: Dominic Young of the Roosters is seen with his jersey ripped during the round five NRL match between Canterbury Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters at Accor Stadium on April 05, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Trent Robinson says the threshold for send-offs has changed after Dom Young was marched for a high shot on Blake Taaffe, while the Roosters coach was also incensed after the “ridiculous” decision to sin bin Victor Radley.

Young had his toughest night in the NRL and was back in the sheds after just 26 minutes after referee Grant Atkins gave him his marching orders for jamming in off the wing and collecting the Bulldogs fullback in the head.

Taaffe was in a bad way and was immediately ruled out of the contest, with Bulldogs players giving it to Young who left the field with his jersey ripped in half.

But Robinson wasn’t happy with the ruling which left his side a man down for more than 50 minutes as they bravely fought back from 26-0 to almost steal a stunning win at a soggy Accor Stadium.

“Hit high and it’s not good for Blake obviously. You don’t want to see that,” he said.

“It hit him in the jaw but it wasn’t a swinging arm. It was open-handed. It was lower than shoulder height. If that’s the standard, that’s fine. But that’s a new one for me.

“I feel like that’s lower than what’s been sent off before. It just feels like we can set a new standard here again. That’s how it feels.

Dom Young of the Roosters is sent off by referee Grant Atkins after a high tackle on Blake Taaffe. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“Definitely a sin-bin. Blake’s got concussed from that. I don’t have all the send offs going through my mind. But we’ve had guys stay on the field, not even go for 10 for less. I feel like that was a bit over the top.

“If they come out and say that’s the new (level), there’ll be a lot more send offs in our game. There should be if that’s the case.”

Robinson was even more furious with the call to send Radley to the sin bin for the final eight minutes of the contest, with the Roosters somehow scoring with 11 men to almost steal the win.

Radley has often come under fire from match officials, with the gifted lock forward sent from the field for a tackle on Stephen Crichton which didn’t meet all the mechanisms of a traditional hip drop.

“Rads’ was ridiculous,” he said.

“Connor (Watson) is the one that tackles him from behind and twists his ankle, and then he falls on that ankle. How they got there to that decision, that’s incredible. That was below par.”

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has seen his fair share of controversial hip drops either go punished or let go, which is why he feels for Radley.

“I think accidents happen. And we’ve been on the other end of them a few times. So I got sympathy for a bloke who gets sent to the sin-bin for hip drops,” he said.

CRAZY GAME OF RUGBY LEAGUE

Four players suffered game-ending head knocks, two players returned from lengthy drugs bans, another was sent off and 7169 fans spent 80 minutes being rained on as the Bulldogs put a turbulent week behind them to survive a furious Roosters comeback to win the wildest match in years.

A bit of rain in Sydney is usually enough to make everyone go mad, so you can only imagine what more than 100mm of the wet stuff would do with Friday night’s script completely flipped as Canterbury cruised to a shock 30-26 win over their rivals.

It wasn’t as important as the grand final 20 years ago, but it had 100 times more drama with the Roosters set to count the cost of Friday’s nightmare for weeks to come.

Skipper James Tedesco is facing a stint on the sidelines after he was knocked out trying to tackle a rampaging Viliame Kikau just minutes after halfback Sam Walker was forced from the field having copped a Stephen Crichton knee to the back of his head.

Tedesco has a history of head knocks and will miss next week’s match under the NRL’s concussion guidelines, with the Roosters now 2-3 and looking nothing like the side that thrashed the Rabbitohs just a fortnight ago.

“They’re okay. I didn’t have a lot of time, but I talked to Ted at half-time and he was getting his memory back, and Sam said he was fine,” Trent Robinson said.

Dominic Young of the Roosters is seen with his jersey ripped following a scuffle that was sparked by his high shot on Blake Taaffe. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Blake Taaffe of the Bulldogs is assisted off the field by trainers for a Head Injury Assessment. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

They were down 26-0 at one stage but raced in four tries in 11 minutes as they threatened to equal the greatest comeback in NRL history.

But the comeback fell short, with Victor Radley finishing the game in the sin bin for a hip-drop on Crichton.

“We’re pretty embarrassed and disappointed by our effort,” Luke Keary said.

“To turn up like that as a playing group is not good enough. To turn up like that at this time of the year isn’t good enough. We need to have a good look at ourselves.”

Dom Young leaves the field after being sent off. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

James Tedesco of the Roosters is attended to by a trainer after an attempted tackle on Viliame Kikau. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

'It's a nightmare for the Sydney Roosters.'

Dominic Young has been sent off after this tackle on Blake Taaffe.

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THE YOUNG AND THE RECKLESS

Dom Young has endured a mixed start to his Roosters career with a couple of serious injuries and a few eye-catching plays, but Friday was full of lowlights in his worst game in the NRL.

The English speedster inexplicably asked for a knock on to be challenged on the second play of the night, with the Bulldogs gleefully punishing the error through Blake Taaffe who strolled over from the scrum.

Taaffe then had another win over the giant when he chased him down and somehow stopped him from scoring, but that was only the start of the drama.

Young’s horror night ended after 26 minutes when he jammed in off the wing and whacked Taaffe high, with Bulldogs players rushing in to show their displeasure after the fullback was knocked out cold.

The former Knight became the first player sent off this season and faces a lengthy ban for his ugly stiff arm which will rule him out of next week’s return match against Newcastle.

Michael Jennings makes his NRL return at age 35. Picture: NRL photos

BANNED DUO RETURN

Lost in all the madness was the return of Bronson Xerri and Michael Jennings from their respective bans.

Playing his first game since 2019, Xerri was virtually unsighted in his first NRL appearance for the Bulldogs, while Jennings was brought on as 18th man after the two head knocks.

Jennings, 35, last played in 2020 when he copped a doping ban, with the 2013 premiership winner throwing the final pass to old mate Daniel Tupou who crashed over to make it 30-26 with four to go.

Jacob Kiraz and Bronson Xerri share an embrace of relief at full-time. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

BEWARE OF DOG

Wet dogs usually stink, but the boys from Belmore flourished in the rain to produce their finest 40 minutes under Cameron Ciraldo, even if there were suggestions during the week that Phil Gould was actually picking the team.

It was eerily similar to two years ago when Gould took over a training session from then coach Trent Barrett, with the Bulldogs bouncing back that week to beat – shock horror – the Roosters.

Ciraldo made a number of late changes to his side and they all worked, but it was a couple of former Panthers stars who stole the show with Viliame Kikau and Matt Burton untouchable as the hosts raced to a 26-0 lead.

“I thought the first 30 minutes was our best footy we’ve played that I can remember, and then we probably had our worst 40 minutes of the season in the second half,” Ciraldo said.

Kikau had 149 metres by half-time, with the Fijian wrecking ball breaking the line twice, including a simple miss by Young which allowed him to race away and set up Burton for his second try of the night.

It’s hard to explain how they fell apart after that, but it was fitting that Burton put the icing on the cake when he strolled over for his third try of the night to make it 30-20 after a rare Roosters error in the second half.

There were scary scenes with 18 minutes to go when Bulldogs bench forward Harrison Edwards was forced off on a medi-cab after a tackle gone wrong, while Kurt Mann (broken hand) and Chris Patolo (shoulder) are also hurt.

Originally published as NRL 2024: Canterbury Bulldogs defeat Sydney Roosters 30-26, Dom Young sent off for horror high shot