Match Details
Match Date	14th Jun, 2013
Opponent	Manly
Result	Win 32-30
Coach	Des Hasler
Captain	Michael Ennis
Venue	Brookvale Oval
Crowd	12,157
Referee	Shayne Hayne Gavin Morris

NSW’s injury woes worsened on Friday night with Blues super-sub Anthony Watmough hobbling from the field in Canterbury’s controversial golden-point win against Manly.

The injury to Watmough compounded the Sea Eagles’ latest loss at Brookvale Oval, which came in golden point after Manly scored three tries in the final 15 minutes to send the match into extra time.

Jamie Lyon’s sideline conversion with one minute remaining in regular time sent the home crowd into raptures.

Glenn Stewart was penalised on halfway in the fourth minute of extra time for going on with a tackle after the referee had called held. Then Kieran Foran was marched 10 metres for back-chatting, which gave Trent Hodkinson the chance to win the game with a penalty goal from 40 metres out and 10m in from touch.

The off-contract halfback made no mistake to end his former team’s spirited comeback.

The game took on the ‘‘controversial’’ tag in the 58th minute after Josh Reynolds was awarded a try after he appeared to have grounded the ball short of the line. Referee Shayne Hayne, who was less than a metre away from Reynolds when he slammed the ball on the turf, sent it up to the video referee after giving a try as his on-field decision.

However, video referees Ashley Klein and Henry Perenara couldn’t overturn the decision because there was no substantial evidence proving the on-field try call was wrong, nor was there evidence to suggest it was right either. The decision to award Reynolds a try mid-way through the second half saw the Bulldogs move out to a 30-12 lead. Manly chief executive David Perry was furious with the decision and stormed into the media box after full-time to tell NRL director of media and communications John Brady ‘‘you have got a lot to answer for, John’’.

With Laurie Daley already sweating on the fitness of Jarryd Hayne and Robbie Farah, the Blues coach could be forced into damage control over the next 48 hours to find a replacement for Watmough if he’s ruled out with a leg injury suffered in a crushing tackle from James Graham. Glenn Stewart could be the beneficiary of the injury that has left Watmough in doubt for game two on Wednesday week.

The win against the Sea Eagles was the Bulldogs’ seventh from their past eight games and their fifth consecutive victory, and it was former Manly playmaker Hodkinson who did the damage at his old stomping ground. The Bulldogs No.7, who missed most of last season through injury, was instrumental in Canterbury’s victory, having a hand – or a boot on two occasions – in the first of three of his side’s tries. He pushed his claims for a contract extension with a performance similar to those that saw him rated as one of the brightest halves prospects in the game in his debut season for the Sea Eagles in 2010.

While it was now Bulldogs coach Des Hasler who opted to release Hodkinson from the Sea Eagles for the upand-coming Daly Cherry-Evans, it was the 24-year-old Hodkinson who got the points over his successor on Friday night, despite Cherry-Evans scoring a double.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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