Panthers face sanction over interchange bungle in 40-12 win over Roosters
The Penrith Panthers are set to be sanctioned by the NRL over an interchange bungle in their win over the Roosters, which saw them momentarily have 14 players on the field.
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Penrith will face a sanction by the NRL after an interchange confusion led to the Panthers having 14 players on the field momentarily in their 40-12 win over the Roosters.
The bungle cost them two interchange cards and now they may face further punishment from the NRL who will review the mishap during the week. Despite their victory, they are no chance of losing any competition points given the accidental replacement had no impact on the play.
The mishap occurred with about 12 minutes left in the first half while the Panthers had the ball.
Back-rower Scott Sorensen was being checked for a dislocated finger by the on-field trainer. The trainer – Pete Green – indicated to the bench that further assistance was needed with the injury. It resulted in Sorensen moving towards the sideline where he was assessed by the medical staff.
The Panthers bench was on the other side of the field.
While Sorensen remained on the field but close to the sidelines, the Panthers rushed on bench player Izack Tago with the usual starting player relegated to the bench for the clash.
Tago ran on for just a matter of seconds and played no part in the play. He threw the interchange card onto the ground instead of handing it to the interchange official. The bungle was quickly realised by the sideline officials with Tago then rushed straight from the field. As Tago ran back off the field, Sorensen returned to take his place.
“The doctor came across…they were thinking I was coming off for an interchange,” Sorenson said. “That’s what they thought was going on. It was a bit of a misunderstanding. Once the finger went back in I was OK.”
The error resulted in Penrith immediately being sanctioned by being docked two interchange cards. The first was for Tago going onto the field and the second as punishment as per NRL guidelines after having an extra man on the field.
Tago eventually came back on the field after the half-time break after Luke Garner failed a concussion test.
While the Panthers will retain their desperately needed win, Canterbury lost two competition points in 2009 after fielding 14 players against the Panthers.
—Michael Carayannis
PANTHERS SNAP AUSTRALIAN SOIL LOSING STREAK
—Adam Pengilly
For the first time since last year’s grand final, four-time defending premiers Penrith have won a game on Australian soil to breathe life into their spluttering title defence.
Riding a kicking masterclass from Nathan Cleary on a night he wrote his name further into the record books, the Panthers avenged a shock early season loss to the Roosters with a 40-12 victory over their arch rivals at Allianz Stadium on Saturday night.
Wallowing in a five-game losing run and not having won since their Las Vegas opener against the Sharks, Ivan Cleary’s side belatedly started their climb up the NRL ladder, leaving the Eels rooted to last spot before their Easter Monday showdown with the Tigers.
The win will be a huge relief to coach Ivan Cleary, whose side finally found their groove in a blistering second half in which they piled on four tries, including club firsts for the outstanding Isaiah Papali’i and Blaize Talagi to overpower the Roosters.
But he knows their biggest challenge will be to keep racking up wins during the State of Origin period when he’s poised to lose multiple stars.
LAURIE’S NO.1 GUNS GO AT IT
Of all the decisions NSW coach Laurie Daley must make before the State of Origin series opener, who will wear the Blues No.1 might be the most intriguing.
Incumbent Dylan Edwards started the year as a heavy favourite, but after an injury-interrupted start to the season, the door may have been left slightly ajar for former captain James Tedesco, Ryan Papenhuyzen or even Tom Trbojevic, whose NRL return with Manly is imminent.
Edwards was his usual workaholic self on a shoddy surface which didn’t provide sure footing, scoring a late try and throwing the last pass for two others, but also came up with a couple of uncharacteristic errors, the first of which led to Roosters points. He finished with a game high 238 running metres.
Tedesco (119 metres) was largely shackled by the Panthers, who squeezed the life out of the hosts in the second half.
CLEARY WRITES HIS NAME INTO THE RECORD BOOKS – AGAIN
In a season when they were threatening to rewrite the record books for the wrong reasons, Nathan Cleary etched his name into Penrith history again after passing Ryan Girdler as the club’s all-time leading pointscorer.
Cleary’s conversion of Paul Alamoti’s second try edged him past Girdler’s tally of 1572, but it was almost the last thing on his mind as the Panthers tried to arrest an alarming start to the year.
Cleary still has more than 1200 points to catch Cameron Smith (2786), but who would put it past him finishing with another NRL record?
IVAN ON EDGE
It wasn’t close to the great theatre Ricky Stuart provides, but Ivan Cleary left nothing to chance as the Panthers faced arguably their biggest test in five years.
From the first minute, Ivan Cleary abandoned the coaching box high up in the Allianz Stadium stands and went through the full gamut of emotions on the sideline.
He wouldn’t have liked what he saw from his side in the opening exchanges, Daniel Tupou opening the scoring for the Roosters after Mark Nawaqanitawase’s sublime flick pass capitalised on an Edwards error.
But as dangerous as Nawaqanitawase looked in attack, he was equally as vulnerable in defence with Nathan Cleary and Edwards combining in almost identical fashion to expose the Roosters centre’s defensive decision making for Alamoti’s first-half double, which gave Penrith a 12-6 lead.
Papali’i and Talagi both pounced on kicks to score in the second stanza – the latter reacting quickest to an Isaah Yeo effort which cannoned off the past – as the Roosters could only muster a crafty response from a scrum play through Robert Toia.
The Roosters lost Nat Butcher (knee) within the first few minutes, while makeshift centre Luke Garner (concussion) didn’t feature in the second half.
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