Corey Horsburgh couldn’t find a hole big enough to hide in after his actions in the first half of the Raiders’ clash against the Storm on Friday turned the game on its head.
The Canberra enforcer had just scored to make the score 12-0 just 10 minutes into the match, but the very next set after being tackled gave ref Peter Gough a mouthful, something he would soon regret.
Horsburgh was frustrated that he couldn’t get to his feet for a quick play the ball, but nevertheless, the spray was something Gough was not going to take, blowing a penalty to Melbourne.
“That is a momentum turner and a coach killer,” Michael Ennis said in Fox Sports commentary.
“Ricky Stuart would be furious.”
You can watch the incident in the player at the top of the page.
The very next set, Sua Faalogo crashed over to get the Storm on the board.
The momentum was totally changed, with the Storm running in another two tries to lead at the break.
Ricky Stuart was seen giving it to Horsburgh at halftime, and he wasn’t the only one unimpressed, with Canberra fans lashing him for losing his head.
“Horsburgh is a liability for the Raiders sometimes,” John Ford wrote on X.
“I really want Canberra to win but you’re wrong. Horsburgh obviously went above and beyond. Don’t excuse stupidity,” another commented.
“Horsburgh is just an idiot. At 12-0 up he just needed to play the ball. Momentum in the NRL is too hard to win back.” a third added.
“Not many players in history can turn momentum in a game like Corey Horsburgh,” a fourth said.
In the end it didn’t cost the Raiders the win as an inspired second half performance saw them turn it around and take a 26-22 victory.
Originally published as NRL world turns on Corey Horsburgh after unforgivable act that had Ricky Stuart fuming