{"id":766202,"date":"2026-06-28T18:21:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:21:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/766202\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T18:21:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T18:21:21","slug":"nrl-news-2026-xavier-savage-intercept-try-simi-sasagi-knock-on-raiders-vs-dragons-round-17-result-video-cooper-cronk-reaction-and-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/766202\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL news 2026: Xavier Savage intercept try, Simi Sasagi knock-on, Raiders vs Dragons round 17 result, video, Cooper Cronk reaction and comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

NRL icon Cooper Cronk<\/a> was left stunned on Sunday after the Bunker green-lit a controversial try that paved way for the Raiders<\/a> to steal victory from the Dragons<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Canberra were leading by two points in the second half when Savage pinched a cut-out pass from Kyle Flanagan<\/a> and raced the length of the field to score in his team\u2019s come-from-behind 24-16 win over the last-placed Red V.<\/p>\n

\"Simi<\/p>\n

Simi Sasagi gets a hand on a pass from Kyle Flanagan.\u00a0Fox League<\/p>\n

There were multiple Dragons players in the area that Flanagan aimed to pass to, but it took a clear deflection from the hand of Canberra\u2019s Simi Sasagi. <\/p>\n

Replays appeared to confirm that due to Sasagi\u2019s contact, the ball landed in the hands of his teammate Savage and ultimately set up the try. <\/p>\n

As each angle of the touch from Sasagi was shown, Cronk became more confident that the Bunker was going to intervene and overrule the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it has gone forward off Sasagi and falls all the way into the hands of Savage,\u201d he said on Fox League commentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe touches the ball and goes forward. You can\u2019t rule on a forward pass, but you can rule on a knock-on. It definitely touched him, I think it\u2019s gone forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roach agreed with that explanation, declaring Cronk was a \u201cgenius\u201d.<\/p>\n

Bunker official Adam Gee had plenty of opportunities to overturn the try, but the call never came and Cronk was left totally confused.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know about that. Can I borrow your glasses Blocker?\u201d Cronk said after the confirmation of the try was announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a try. That has been propelled forward from Sasagi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cronk was not the only one to believe it was a no try.<\/p>\n

Dragons skipper Damien Cook<\/a> revealed even the Raiders players were surprised to see the try had been awarded after seeing the replays. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, it was pretty disappointing,\u201d he told reporters post-match. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can sum it up, even the Raiders team were pretty shocked at the decision. They didn\u2019t even have a kicker down there. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just us that it\u2019s affecting in games, the fans as well and they deserve better. I know I\u2019m not a professional, but there were a couple of calls out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Clint<\/p>\n

Clint Gutherson reacts after losing to the Raiders.\u00a0Mark Nolan<\/p>\n

Dragons interim coach Dean Young<\/a> agreed with Cook.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe execution is on us, we\u2019ve got to own that – but I\u2019m very disappointed in a couple of the Bunker calls,\u201d Young said.<\/p>\n

The visitors managed to respond shortly after the controversial try was awarded through Tyrell Sloan, but the enigmatic winger then dropped a ball inside his own half that gave the Raiders a chance to seal the win through Tom Starling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NRL icon Cooper Cronk was left stunned on Sunday after the Bunker green-lit a controversial try that paved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-766202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}