The Raiders’ rocky start to the NRL season has taken a fresh hit after veteran Josh Papalii copped a suspension for a brutal high tackle in their loss to the Bulldogs. While Canberra coach Ricky Stuart has lashed the state of Canberra’s GIO Stadium after Bulldogs counterpart Cameron Ciraldo suffered a cut to the hand from shattered glass inside his coaching box.
The Dogs ground out a gutsy 14-10 victory in awful conditions on Thursday night, with torrential rain soaking the nation’s capital. But the visitors benefited from a couple of controversial late calls, with Canberra denied an offside penalty from right in front of the posts that would have levelled the scores at 8-8.
The Raiders look set to lose Josh Papalii (R) to suspension for a high tackle against the Bulldogs, while Ricky Stuart (L) has lashed their home facilities after an injury to rival coach Cameron Ciraldo. Pic: Getty
Dogs skipper Stephen Crichton also appeared to get away with a ruck infringement in the dying moments that would have given Canberra a repeat set deep inside the visitors’ half. Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey also produced a match-saving tackle on Ethan Sanders as the rookie Raiders half looked destined to score.
The loss leaves Canberra 1-2 to start the new season and they looks set to lose Papalii for one game after he was charged with a Grade 2 careless high tackle after being sin-binned in the first half. On Friday, the match review committee handed the veteran a one-game ban for an early guilty plea, which could be two games if he decides to fight the charge and loses.
Papalii and Corey Horsburgh raced up to put a big shot on Bulldogs prop Sam Hughes, but the Samoan prop’s shoulder collected his opponent in the head with significant force. NRL legend Andrew Johns suggested Papalii was lucky not to cop a straight send-off.
“That’s a sin bin, he is going for a rest. This may be even more than a sin bin,” Johns said on Nine. Co-commentator Mat Thompson added: “I don’t know if anyone has ever been relieved to go to the sin bin, but watching the slow-mo, you couldn’t argue if it was a send-off.”
Raiders veteran Josh Papalii looks set to cop a suspension after a brutal high shot in their NRL Round 3 loss to the Bulldogs. Pic: Getty
(Mark Nolan via Getty Images)
Papalii is now set to be sidelined for Canberra’s Round 4 clash at home to Cronulla, having only just returned from concussion for the Canterbury game. There was plenty of drama off the field too, with Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo revealing that he cut his hand from shattered glass inside his coaching box late in the game.
GIO Stadium facilities under fire after Cameron Ciraldo injury
“The box was quite foggy, so we couldn’t see what was happening,” he explained. “We tried to open the window, and the whole window smashed on us. There was glass all over us, and I’ll need a couple of stitches. It’s a great atmosphere, but it deserves an upgrade.”
Canberra counterpart Stuart agreed when informed about the injury to his rival. He said the club’s pleas to give the 1970s-built venue a long-overdue facelift had fallen on deaf ears for years. And Stuart pulled no punches after describing their home stadium’s facilities as “shithouse”.
Stuart said: “I’m coming to the change room and I thought it was raining in there. There’s no good whingeing about it, because the people you’ve got to whinge to don’t give a shit.
“The people that make decisions about our stadium don’t care about the stadium. They don’t care about the nation’s capital having the shithouse stadium that we have. So that’s why I don’t whinge about it. I don’t care. We just make up and we’ll just do what we got to do, because they don’t care.”
with AAP