Bulldogs win controversial Vegas thriller after Knights hang on in season opener

Las Vegas: Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton kicked the match-winning field goal with six seconds remaining in golden-point extra time, but controversy surrounded the decision to award the Bulldogs the penalty that put them in range.

Nothing could separate the Bulldogs and Dragons at Allegiant Stadium in the first 80 minutes.

After both sides had field-goal attempts charged down or watched them sail wide, Canterbury received a lucky break when Dragons forward Ryan Couchman was penalised for stripping the ball from Canterbury centre Bronson Xerri.

When the replay was beamed on the big screen inside Allegiant Stadium, it appeared Xerri had lost the ball.

The Dogs had one last set right in front of the posts, and Crichton made sure he was never going to miss from just inside 30m, giving Canterbury a 15-14 win.

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan was convinced Xerri had dropped the ball, and said: “It’s a loose carry every day of the week, without a doubt. We didn’t get the rub of the green, that’s for sure.”

“The NRL has done an outstanding job [with Vegas], the week has been fantastic, every promotion we’ve had to do, Fremont St ... then the game gets decided like that, it’s disappointing.”

Bulldogs counterpart Cameron Ciraldo said of the Xerri incident: “There were heaps of calls during the game that could have gone either way. We were sitting that high up [at the stadium], they looked like ants on the field. We didn’t have a great view of it.”

Ciraldo preferred to heap praise on Crichton holding his nerve with the winning kick, and said: “He’s worked really hard for those moments, and it was fitting for him to get it on one of those really big stages today.”

It was an epic finish to an epic week for the Bulldogs, who arrived earlier than every other club and were expected by most neutral fans to blow the Dragons off the park.

It was not a clinic, but they still won, albeit with one huge lucky decision, which left Flanagan unimpressed.

The coach also questioned why Crichton was not sin-binned for a high tackle after a similar offence by Braidon Burns left North Queensland a man short for 10 minutes in the earlier game.

Ciraldo knew if the Bulldogs could not cope with the hype all week, they were never going to survive when everything is on the line in September.

Other than the win, the most encouraging sign for the Bulldogs was the combination of halves Lachie Galvin and Matt Burton.

Galvin was one of the biggest off-season storylines in terms of how he was going to cope with the immense external pressure of getting the job done in the No. 7 jersey.

Looking like he had bulked up recently, Galvin played a physical brand of football, and his pass for Jacob Preston to score the first try was a highlight, even if it may have been forward. Galvin and Preston are going to have a lot of fun on that edge this year.

Burton was just as exciting to watch, with a few towering bombs dished up and a grubber for himself in the second half that caught the Dragons off guard. His sheer size makes him a handful to tackle, and he was not afraid to dart up the middle to do some heavy lifting.

Andf what about Bailey Hayward punching out 90 minutes at dummy-half?

One concern for the Dogs will be whether Crichton is charged for a high shot on Dragons debutant winger Setu Tu. Crichton was placed on report but not sent to the sin bin. Ciraldo said he was not too stressed.

The skipper is so inspirational to the group and needed to keep a calm head when things threatened to spill over in the first half.

There were a few big hits that led to errors, and Luciano Leilua had clearly had enough when he lashed out at Galvin. It was at that moment referee Grant Atkins warned the captains about cutting out the “nonsense”.

There some big hits, with Dragons winger Christian Tuipulotu pulling off the biggest on Canterbury winger Marcelo Montoya.

The Couchman brothers, Ryan and Toby, also deserved special mention for combining to hammer Sitili Tupouniua, which dislodged the ball. The Couchmans celebrated like they had just won the grand final, with one of the twins sheepishly smiling at the big screen when he caught a snapshot of the celebration.

Sharpe injury takes gloss off Knights win

Young star Fletcher Sharpe lasting only 25 minutes before being forced off the field with a knee injury took some of the gloss off a gutsy Newcastle victory in Las Vegas on Sunday.

The Knights survived plenty of attack from North Queensland midway through the second half – and Kalyn Ponga did well to survive a brutal high shot from winger Braidon Burns – and now they can only hope Sharpe’s injury is not serious.

The Knights won 28-18, and they played their best football when Sharpe was on the field.

“We’re not sure, he’ll have to get some scans, but we don’t think it’s anything too serious,” coach Justin Holbrook said.

“It’s not that [ACL]. It could have been a knee clash, bone bruising – hopefully it’s nothing serious.

“When he was out there, we looked dangerous every time. We were well on top after 25 minutes, and he was a big part of that. Our attack threatened the whole time. ‘Sharpey’ was so good.”

The 21-year-old was handed the No. 6 jersey and had plenty of nice moments, including racing through for the first try off a Ponga kick.

Sharpe deserves a change of luck after missing the back half of last year when he suffered a lacerated kidney and ruptured spleen during a game against the Dolphins. After that injury, he remained in the hospital for a week before being cleared to fly home.

The Knights are lucky to have a handy halves replacement in Sandon Smith, who did well when he came on. His inside ball for Ponga to burst into space early in the second half and set up as try for Bradman Best was a highlight.

Dylan Brown was fair without being wonderful in his first game in the No.7 jersey. His kick played a role in Marzhew’s 13th-minute try, but he came up with a poor defensive read on Jake Clifford that led to a Cowboys try.

Ponga had some nice touches, but was hit high by Burns, who was sent to the sin bin. Burns immediately apologised to Ponga, but faces the prospect of a suspension.

Knights forward Tyson Frizell also faces a nervous wait after being placed on report for a cannonball tackle on Thomas Mikaele, who came from the field with a knee injury.

Cowboys coach Todd Payten agreed with the sin-binning of Burns, but asked why Frizell was not given 10 minutes for a tackle that will keep Mikaele out of action for the next six weeks with an MCL injury.

“I can’t disagree with the [sin bin], it wasn’t intentional, but it’s really disappointing with how the Tom Mikaele incident was handled, when you consider Kalyn gets up and plays on, and Tom is out for the next six weeks,” Payten said. “I’d like a bit of consistency.”

The Knights started the first half well, but the Cowboys hit back through Heilum Luki and Murray Taulagi.

Newcastle started well again after the break with a try to Best, but the Cowboys went on the attack. They were not good enough to get across the line, but the Knights deserved credit for holding their nerve.

The Burns’ binning meant the Cowboys were always unlikely to snatch a late victory, and Newcastle made sure of the two points when Trey Mooney scored.

Cowboys’ No.1 Scott Drinkwater came from the field midway through the first half to have a rib cartilage injury treated, and he will be forced to play in pain in the short term with painkillers.