Paul Gallen was left stunned that Knights gun Greg Marzhew did not end up in the sin bin against the Raiders after he was penalised for dangerous contact on Raiders star Kaeo Weekes on Sunday.
A bomb was put up to test Weekes midway through the second half, but the Canberra fullback was not fazed by the play and collected the ball in the air.
It was not a smooth landing after taking the catch for his team, though, with Marzhew running in and collecting his legs while he was still in flight.
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Weekes bounced off the right shoulder of Marzhew before landing on his back as a penalty was promptly called by referee Adam Gee.
A simple apology was made by Marzhew to Weekes while everyone waited to learn if he would be spending time in the sin bin.
Billy Slater didn’t believe the contact deserved anything more than a penalty.
“He is looking at the ball the whole time. It is a penalty,” Slater said on Nine.
Kaeo Weekes is collected in the air by Greg Marzhew. Nine
“Kaeo Weekes got up there early and caught him by surprise. I don’t think his intentions were to do anything illegal.”
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Gee then confirmed a penalty would suffice and Marzhew was put on report.
Gallen disagreed.
“I think that is the whole reason the sin bin rule was brought in, for when players attack players like that,” Gallen said on Nine.
“He had eyes for the ball almost the whole way, but the last two or three metres he saw the player and had time to pull out. That for me is 10 minutes in the sin bin.”
Slater replied: “Gal is protecting the fullbacks. I like it.”
Marzhew had given Newcastle fans a glimpse of hope early in the match as he made a break from deep inside his own half, but he was tackled on Canberra’s 20m line.
The Knights were unable to make the most of the opportunity, but it did warn Canberra.
Five minutes later, the Raiders gave the host team a lesson as Ethan Strange ran straight through the middle and found Simi Sasagi to open the scoring for the visitors.
Marzhew then found the try line in the 28th minute before Fletcher Sharpe added another to give the Knights a 10-6 lead at half-time.