I didn't dive: Hayne hits back at furious Bennett
Glenn Jackson | July 24, 2007
Broncos 16 Eels 20
Parramatta fullback Jarryd Hayne must have thought his most testing defence would have come with Sam Thaiday running like a steam train straight towards him.
But after Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett savaged the State of Origin player last night, accusing him of diving and suggesting he should be cited, Hayne was forced into even more vigorous defence after the match. Hayne denied he had taken a dive after a crucial 46th minute incident last night, when he lay motionless after being struck by a rampaging Thaiday.
Bennett was stinging in his attack on Hayne, saying: "I think it's something the game's got to address. You talk about ethics in a lot of sports - I think in our game, if you weren't injured, you wouldn't lay on the ground.
"In the ref's defence, he looked like he was never going to move. It looked like he was extremely, or seriously injured."
Bennett added he did not have a problem with referee Ben Cummins's decision to stop the play: "I have a problem with the player, and the position that we were in and why he did it."
At the time, the Broncos were down 14-6 but building momentum. Thaiday stormed towards Hayne and stepped at the last moment - Hayne appeared to get his head caught in the wrong position and lay flat on his back afterwards. Cummins stopped the game, leading Thaiday to throw the ball away in disgust, even though the contact looked like it would have floored a heavyweight boxer.
"It cost us dearly," Bennett said. "And to see him get up and carry on like he did afterwards was pretty disappointing. We've got to have ethics and codes in our game amongst players and coaches so that stuff just doesn't happen.
"The rules are there to protect players when they are genuinely injured, not to give his team an advantage when they're under the pump."
The drama came after the NRL issued an edict that officials would be cracking down on diving after a controversial clash between Cronulla and St George Illawarra in round 13 in which both camps accused the other of feigning injuries to earn penalties.
Bennett added: "They just should be cited for bringing the game into disrepute. Get the guy cited, put him out of the game for a while, and you will cut the rot out pretty quickly."
Hayne, however, said he was "rattled" by the hit.
"You'd better ask Sammy about that," Hayne said. "Sammy said he hit me flush on the head. He asked me after the game, 'How's your head?' My head struck his knee. I was a bit rattled. I was a bit unstable. But I put some water on it and I played on. We'll have to wait and see how it is tomorrow."
Eels chief executive Denis Fitzgerald described the accusations as "baseless", saying: "I don't think Wayne's got any medical qualifications, so I think he should stay out of it. I'd stay down too if Sammy Thaiday ran into me."
The drama overshadowed the Eels' move into outright third place on the ladder, and a wonderful performance by Nathan Hindmarsh on the same night his father, Bill, had a serious operation, not to mention a stirring comeback by the injury-hit Broncos. They trailed 14-0 at half-time only to come within a whisker of victory after two late Shaun Berrigan tries.
PARRAMATTA 20 (N Hindmarsh, I Hindmarsh, K Inu tries; K Inu 4 goals) bt BRISBANE 16 (S Berrigan 2, D Boyd tries; C Parker 2 goals) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins. Crowd: 25,762.
