Sharks enforcer Royce Hunt was binned for one of the softest punches in NRL history and it ultimately cost his side the game, with the Raiders prevailing 24-20 in Canberra.
Hunt was marched in the 53rd minute after lashing out at fiery Green Machine forward Corey Horsburgh, but replays showed he barely made contact.
“It wasn’t much of a punch, barely repositioned that red goatee of Corey Horsburgh as Hunt lashed out, but still I suppose technically it was a punch,” Fox League sideline reporter Matt Russell said.
Canberra beat the Sharks for the ninth straight time after overcoming the loss of hooker Danny Levi (suspected broken jaw) after just two minutes.
Levi came off second best in a collision with Sharks forward Teig Wilton and left the field clutching his bloodied face.
Tom Starling replaced Levi who joins a growing injury ward at the Raiders. Coach Ricky Stuart is already without fullback Xavier Savage, also due a broken jaw.
“NRL officials are currently on the ground looking for Danny Levi’s teeth,” Mick Ennis said on Fox League at halftime.
Cronulla took the lead on hottest March day in Canberra history when Will Kennedy crossed in the seventh minute, fresh off his hat-trick against the Eels last week.
Ronaldo Mulitalo stepped off his left foot to stand up James Schiller and then found Kennedy back on the inside before the fullback finished under the posts.
“All he can do at the moment is score tries for fun,” Warren Smith said on Fox League.
But the Raiders hit back in the 15th minute when Jack Wighton threw a pinpoint cut-out pass for Albert Hopoate to score in the corner.
“The Sharks are calling it forward but that’s a peach of a pass from Wighton,” Cooper Cronk said.
Canberra then took the lead when forward Horsburgh barged over from close range in the 31st minute.
“Horsburgh deserved that after his big effort early to keep Kennedy in the in-goal,” Cronk said.
“But that’s pretty poor defence from the Sharks, right through the teeth.”
The Sharks responded in the 34th minute when Kennedy took the Raiders’s right edge on, threw a dummy and then put through a perfect grubber for Mulitalo to score in the corner.
“The speed and skill of Kennedy and then the athleticism of Mulitalo finishes the job,” Cronk said.
“That is centimetre perfect from William Kennedy... at full throttle that is beautiful to watch.”
Canberra crossed first in the second half when Matthew Timoko forced his way over with a strong individual effort from 10 metres out in the 45th minute.
Horsburgh then scored his second and tries from Sharks duo Jesse Ramien and Briton Nikora set up a grandstand finish, but the Raiders held on.
PUNCH PROVES COSTLY
It was one of the softest punches in NRL history but Royce Hunt’s strike proved incredibly costly for the Sharks.
Raiders forward Corey Horsburgh had been pestering Hunt for most of the match and pushed him over in the 53rd minute, which saw the Cronulla prop lose his cool.
Hunt jumped straight back to his feet and went after Horsburgh, who invited a punch, and the big man then threw out his left arm.
The commotion disrupted Cronulla’s defensive line and one minute later it was none other than Horsburgh who crossed to give the Raiders a 24-10 lead.
“You’ve gone and struck him, you’ve taken everything out of our hands so you’re going to go in the bin for striking,” Ashley Klein said.
But replays showed Hunt barely made contact with Horsburgh, which left Fox League’s commentators stunned.
“This is it here in the back play, Corey Horsburgh has pushed Royce Hunt and Hunt has come up and said ‘let’s dance’ and as we keep an eye on it here, Royce Hunt must have thrown a punch - (wait) is that it there?” Cooper Cronk said.
Warren Smith responded “I hope not” before Cronk continued.
“Essentially that made the break that allowed Hudson Young to go through and then the quick play the ball from Jamal Fogarty and Corey Horsburgh gets one back on the Sharks front-rower,” Cronk said.
“He lets him know about it by scoring that try. Ultimately it cost Royce Hunt 10 in the bin and the Sharks are under pressure again.”
Craig Fitzgibbon was left unimpressed with Horsburgh escaping punishment over the scrap.
“You can’t just hold onto someone from the back of a scrum, push them over,” Fitzgibbon said.
“But you can’t do what Royce did, so it should have been picked up by someone before Royce retaliated and Royce shouldn’t have retaliated like that, especially not while we were defending our goal line.
“Plenty of other stuff to worry about than the rules, but we were on the wrong end of it.”
RAIDERS REPEL HEAT TO EXTEND RECORD
It was the hottest March day in Canberra history with temperatures hitting 35 degrees at kick-off, but the Raiders kept their cool when it mattered.
The Sharks may have stormed up the ladder to finish second last season but their bogey team well and truly remains the Raiders.
Cronulla have now lost nine straight games against the Green Machine as Ricky Stuart’s men produced another upset.
The gutsy win came despite losing hooker Danny Levi (broken jaw) in the opening two minutes.
“We didn’t ice a few moments over the last couple of weeks and have been unlucky with a few things,” Ricky Stuart said.
“I feel you don’t get the 50:50 or the bounce of the ball over the last two weeks where we could have been winners in one or two games.
“It’s very easy to call your football team a resilient group of people and you’re winning games and it’s all rosy. But we’re going through a tough period after a really good off-season and we’ve got a good football team.
“And when you’re not getting that win when you’re in the fight you can get a little bit downhearted and lack a little bit of belief and confidence but we I told the boys this week I was so proud of their resilience but it has to be shown again - and it was.”
CRONULLA IN TROUBLE EARLY AS HALVES HEADACHE LOOMS
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon penned a huge contract extension over the summer, earning a new deal until 2027 on the back of his stunning rookie year last season.
But it’s been a slow start to 2023 without his best player - Nicho Hynes - and heading into Round 4 Cronulla have produced just one win to sit 12th on the ladder.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t make the most of our opportunities. Our discipline was crucial in the end and fundamental errors,” Fitzgibbon said.
“But I liked the way we responded, we got put behind the eight ball and there but went down swinging.
“So we’re fighting hard and competing and not stopping but we have to tune the footy up a little bit there.
“Simply executing your role in defence, that wasn’t disciplined enough. We’re not putting enough pressure on our opponents at the moment.
“But we responded (when the pressure was on us), you can fix the technique and the tools and whatever you want to work on, but we went down swinging.”
Hynes returns next week but one of the few positives for Fitzgibbon has been how well halfback Braydon Trindall has played in the absence of the reigning Dally M Medallist.
Fitzgibbon confirmed Hynes will return from a calf injury next week, which could leave Matt Moylan in the firing line.
“I’ll get to that but he hurt his ankle tonight anyway. Nicho is coming back into the team but Braydon has done exceptional,” Fitzgibbon said.
“That’s why we re-signed him, we believe in him for the future, how long can a young half stay up at that level is another debate but he’ll be part of our team whether it’s a utility or he might not, we’ll get to the team selections later in the week but we have faith in him.”
