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A GUTTED Frank Puletua said last night he was the victim of a "crowd penalty" after Manly scored a dramatic comeback victory, thanks largely to his late indiscretion.
The Sea Eagles recovered from 18 points down at half-time to prevail 32-30 through a Travis Burns penalty with just seven minutes remaining, which came after Puletua was penalised for a late hit on Manly half Matt Orford.
"I feel like I cost them the game in the end," Puletua said. "Maybe I should have done something different. I had to put some sort of pressure on. I just had to be the one to I'm gutted. Still, I definitely thought it was a tough call.
"I was definitely committed to it. I just thought it was a crowd penalty. They arked up a bit. As soon as the crowd started, they turned it back on us. It was a tough call on us. That's the way footy goes sometimes. I can't get too down."
The circumstances of the win, unfortunately, overshadowed a remarkable comeback by Manly, who had one foot in the grave at half-time, down by 24-6, but came to life in the second half, scoring 24 points in just 15 minutes to lead 30-24 at the hour mark.
Puletua seemed committed to the tackle, and referee Jason Robinson seemed happy with it, calling "clear" moments before halting play and awarding the penalty just 15 metres out from the Penrith line. The referee confirmed afterwards he had been tipped by his video official Steve Clark.
"I thought it was a bit hard for Frank to pull out of it," said Penrith skipper and second-rower Tony Puletua, Frank's brother.
Penrith coach John Lang, who at the time threw his water bottle down in disgust and let out a spray that would have made Andrew Johns blush (if they ever decide to mike up coaches like they mike up players, that should be exhibit A for the defence), added: "I've only seen it on the replay. It's hard to tell in slow motion, it appeared to me that he probably would have had trouble pulling out."
Manly had no sympathy for the Panthers after being on the wrong end of a similar call in round 16, when interchange forward Mark Bryant was penalised for striking Brisbane five-eighth Darren Lockyer in the Broncos' 16-10 win.
"What goes around, comes around," Manly skipper Ben Kennedy said.
Coach Des Hasler added with a grin: "He made the right call."
His counterpart, however, seemed more concerned about his side's capitulation than the Puletua decision. The Panthers should never have been in a position where they could succumb to a penalty.
"I thought we played for 20 minutes," Lang said. "They had the better of us for us for the first 20 minutes, we smashed them in the second 20 minutes the game was there to be won. We came out in the second half and let them roll over us."
The Sea Eagles were strangely lacklustre in the first half - their 40 minutes summed up by Rhys Wesser's 31st-minute try. Penrith five-eighth Preston Campbell squirmed out of a Kennedy tackle before offloading to the fullback, who stepped Manly's stand-in fullback Michael Robertson easily.
Robertson looked like he had concrete boots on, slowly falling to the floor as if Wesser had yelled out "timberrrrrr" on the way past. He finally hit the deck after Wesser had planted the ball down.
Then something clicked. In a frenetic eight minutes after the break, Manly were miraculously level. Second-rower Glenn Stewart lifted Manly's hopes by latching onto a bobbling Burns kick, showing far more urgency than Luke Swain and Danny Galea, to score. Then, Paul Stephenson's try brought the deficit back to six.
And then the leveller, coming after Wesser lost the ball following an Orford kick. Burns recovered possession, the ball was moved quickly right and Chris Hicks touched down for the Sea Eagles' third try in the time it usually takes Axl Rose to belt out a ballad.
To add injury to insult, Penrith centre Luke Lewis, who left the field after just 10 minutes, suffered damaged to his medial ligament and is facing at least two weeks on the sideline. His centre partner Galea damaged his shoulder, and is staring at a lengthy stint off the field.
Now it's Penrith's finals hopes that may be falling. "Timberrrrr."
Guys what did you think about the penalty, in all honesty? BTW If need be, you can remove your Maroon and White glasses.
The Sea Eagles recovered from 18 points down at half-time to prevail 32-30 through a Travis Burns penalty with just seven minutes remaining, which came after Puletua was penalised for a late hit on Manly half Matt Orford.
"I feel like I cost them the game in the end," Puletua said. "Maybe I should have done something different. I had to put some sort of pressure on. I just had to be the one to I'm gutted. Still, I definitely thought it was a tough call.
"I was definitely committed to it. I just thought it was a crowd penalty. They arked up a bit. As soon as the crowd started, they turned it back on us. It was a tough call on us. That's the way footy goes sometimes. I can't get too down."
The circumstances of the win, unfortunately, overshadowed a remarkable comeback by Manly, who had one foot in the grave at half-time, down by 24-6, but came to life in the second half, scoring 24 points in just 15 minutes to lead 30-24 at the hour mark.
Puletua seemed committed to the tackle, and referee Jason Robinson seemed happy with it, calling "clear" moments before halting play and awarding the penalty just 15 metres out from the Penrith line. The referee confirmed afterwards he had been tipped by his video official Steve Clark.
"I thought it was a bit hard for Frank to pull out of it," said Penrith skipper and second-rower Tony Puletua, Frank's brother.
Penrith coach John Lang, who at the time threw his water bottle down in disgust and let out a spray that would have made Andrew Johns blush (if they ever decide to mike up coaches like they mike up players, that should be exhibit A for the defence), added: "I've only seen it on the replay. It's hard to tell in slow motion, it appeared to me that he probably would have had trouble pulling out."
Manly had no sympathy for the Panthers after being on the wrong end of a similar call in round 16, when interchange forward Mark Bryant was penalised for striking Brisbane five-eighth Darren Lockyer in the Broncos' 16-10 win.
"What goes around, comes around," Manly skipper Ben Kennedy said.
Coach Des Hasler added with a grin: "He made the right call."
His counterpart, however, seemed more concerned about his side's capitulation than the Puletua decision. The Panthers should never have been in a position where they could succumb to a penalty.
"I thought we played for 20 minutes," Lang said. "They had the better of us for us for the first 20 minutes, we smashed them in the second 20 minutes the game was there to be won. We came out in the second half and let them roll over us."
The Sea Eagles were strangely lacklustre in the first half - their 40 minutes summed up by Rhys Wesser's 31st-minute try. Penrith five-eighth Preston Campbell squirmed out of a Kennedy tackle before offloading to the fullback, who stepped Manly's stand-in fullback Michael Robertson easily.
Robertson looked like he had concrete boots on, slowly falling to the floor as if Wesser had yelled out "timberrrrrr" on the way past. He finally hit the deck after Wesser had planted the ball down.
Then something clicked. In a frenetic eight minutes after the break, Manly were miraculously level. Second-rower Glenn Stewart lifted Manly's hopes by latching onto a bobbling Burns kick, showing far more urgency than Luke Swain and Danny Galea, to score. Then, Paul Stephenson's try brought the deficit back to six.
And then the leveller, coming after Wesser lost the ball following an Orford kick. Burns recovered possession, the ball was moved quickly right and Chris Hicks touched down for the Sea Eagles' third try in the time it usually takes Axl Rose to belt out a ballad.
To add injury to insult, Penrith centre Luke Lewis, who left the field after just 10 minutes, suffered damaged to his medial ligament and is facing at least two weeks on the sideline. His centre partner Galea damaged his shoulder, and is staring at a lengthy stint off the field.
Now it's Penrith's finals hopes that may be falling. "Timberrrrr."
Guys what did you think about the penalty, in all honesty? BTW If need be, you can remove your Maroon and White glasses.
