Tedesco fumes after Ponga escapes sin bin as controversy bites Chooks
Newcastle scored on the back of a dubious penalty and James Tedesco was left fuming about Kalyn Ponga not being sin-binned as controversy rocked the first half of the NRL grand final.
And in a dramatic post-script to referee Adam Gee opting against dumping Ponga in the sin bin, the Newcastle captain saved a try and scored a runaway four-pointer in the five minutes that followed.
Roosters skipper James Tedesco vents at referee Adam Gee. Getty Images
In the 15th minute of the decider between the Knights and Roosters at Accor Stadium on Sunday night, Newcastle was awarded a penalty after Lindsay Collins smashed Mat Croker with a crunching hit.
The Knights kicked for touch from their side of halfway and scored in the next set, with Francis Manuleleua cannoning through a gap to draw first blood.
But whether Collins had hit Croker high was doubtful, with replays appearing to show the Roosters enforcer’s chest thudding into the Knights forward’s shoulder.
“I don’t think it was high,” Knights icon Andrew Johns said on Nine.
“No, I don’t think so either,” added Billy Slater, who said the ruling was “a bit dramatic”.
In the 25th minute, Ponga made clear contact to the head of Victor Radley, his shoulder thumping into the middle forward’s head with force.
And while the referee put the superstar fullback on report, he went against the norm of recent times by allowing him to stay on the field.
Tedesco snapped.
“That’s a shoulder with force to the head,” the Roosters skipper said.
“That should be a sin bin.”
Ponga came up with a phenomenal try-saver on cross-code ace Mark Nawaqanitawase a minute later, forcing the ball loose from the winger’s grip after he’d jumped to take a Daly Cherry-Evans kick.
And less than five minutes later, Ponga swooped on a loose ball as the Knights defended their try line and raced 90 metres to extend the underdogs’ lead.
Newcastle took a 12-6 buffer into half-time.
