Shock Manly Sea Eagles tries to beat Tom Trbojevic against the Canterbury Bulldogs

Disha Ekim 27, 2021

Manly overtook Canterbury in the second half to secure a 36-18 win and move up to fourth in the standings, but the win was exacerbated by controversy.

After entering the range behind the Bulldogs 12-10, the Sea Eagles took the lead with a try from Tom Trbojevic in the 44th minute of the Brisbane clash.

But the superstar full-back seemed unable to land the ball cleanly as he wrestled with a tenacious Jack Hetherington in the in-goal.

Trbojevic did not land the ball on the first try, and even though the player eventually found the grass on the second try, the manly flyer seemed to have tossed it.

Despite this, Bunker Officer Chris Butler awarded Manly the try, leaving the rugby league world stunned.

“Bulldogs fans right now are saying, ‘You’re kidding.’ They’re saying, ‘The bottom teams get the bad calls,'” said Fox League commentator Andrew Voss.

Canterbury’s Jack Hetherington grabs Manly’s Tom Trbojevic as he lunges for the goal line. (NRL images)

Former Panthers captain Greg Alexander took aim at the inconsistency of decisions.

“How many times have you heard that when the ball comes out of a player’s hand, if he doesn’t catch that ball before dropping it, it’s not an attempt?” Alessandro said.

Voss added: “The ground does not constitute control of the ball. And they are definitely not saying that Trbojevic took it down on the first try.”

Alexander: “No, well, he didn’t.”

The man behind the famous “Queenslander” call during the 1995 State of Origin series, Billy Moore, said Canterbury supporters had reason to be dirty.

“For me there is a lack of control and … Bulldogs fans have a right to feel ripped off,” said Moore.

The polarizing try triggered a swing in momentum as Manly ran into four second-half tries against Canterbury, racing off to deny the Bulldogs a monumental shocking victory.

Manly was backed by Trbojevic’s fourth hat-trick of the glittering 2021 season.