A late flurry from the NRL leaders to complete the first half sees them take a very comfortable 22-0 lead in the main race breaking as they aim for a 15th consecutive victory
After Brian To’o opened the scoring in the sixth minute, the Panthers added three tries in the span of seven minutes in the final ten minutes of the half
However, the story of the first half is that Canterbury’s Luke Thompson was blamed for what seemed like a pretty obvious glance at veteran Penrith James Tamou
« I was hoping to get the penalty, but I just felt something there and my eyes were closed, » he says
« I don’t think there was much in it, but I think it’s quite emotional to be the last game of the year »
However, big league champions Cooper Cronk and Mal Meninga are far from convinced, with Cronk saying the vision is « overwhelming » for Thompson
« Tamou said in the interview that he felt it there and played for the foul and played it down, but it’s just the players’ code not to steal into your mate or your opponent « Cronk told Fox League
« It’s on TV and it just shows that he has his fingers in James Tamou’s eye
« I don’t know if this is a ‘gouging’ incident, he obviously had his finger in his eye but I don’t know if he dug »
More bad news for the Bulldogs, with Jayden Okunbor helped take off with what appears to be a serious knee injury
As the Panthers make another move to the right side of the floor, Okunbor appears to stop and jump to intercept the ball and he has fallen like a sack of potatoes
It’s contactless, which isn’t usually a good sign at all, and Ben Ikin, in the comments, is concerned that this is a broken ACL for Okunbor
« It’s just a pop and that ligament running through the middle of the knee joint just breaks and you lose all stability
« It can happen without major incident as you saw there It was just a stop and prop to change direction »
There is now confirmation from the sideline that Okunbor did injure his ACL as he tells Bulldogs medics he « heard a pop »
Referee Henry Perenara calls a stoppage of play and calls veteran Panthers James Tamou to confirm the player the Panthers complained about, and he points out Thompson
This happened when Tamou had the ball and Thompson was attempting to drop it with a teammate
As the players clash, Thompson’s right arm wraps around Tamou’s head and the replays show his fingers clearly digging into Tamou’s eye quite aggressively
If replays are something to buy, you’d think Thompson has big, big problems for this
As commentators note, it’s amazing that Tamou was so calm about all of this after being at the end of such an action
« It’s as clear as I’ve seen it, » Ben Ikin says of Fox League comment
He truly is a class veteran and a leader and that is exactly why the Wests Tigers will bring him next season
Penrith went up close in his previous offensive foray, with Brent Naden just inches from crossing the try line before the Bulldogs defense held up well
However, next time on the court the Bulldogs had no response to a high-profile game that of course was started by Nathan Cleary, who else?
Cleary has had 20 assists this season, but it wasn’t, with young fullback Daine Laurie doing the damage instead
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has big wraps on Laurie and you can see exactly why as he battles through a number of tackles before unloading to a charging To’o for a four points easy
Andrew Johns says Bulldogs should reconsider dropping some players after announcing club will engage in mass cleanup in preparation for new coach Trent Barrett
The club have announced that Kieran Foran, Aiden Tolman, Marcelo Montoya, Kerrod Holland, Jack Cogger, Sauaso Sue, Tim Lafai and Isaiah Tass will leave at the end of the season
However, Johns believes the club should consider keeping Foran and Sui for 2021
« I’m a huge fan of Kieran Foran, » he told Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behavior
« I know he’s got a lot of money and he’s had injury dramas But if he was willing to play for $ 300-400,000 – I’d roll the dice with Kieran
« He’s still a world class player Sauaso Sui is another one I would keep, I think he’s a very good player »
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, Penrith Panthers, Luke Thompson, National Rugby League, James Tamou
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SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
