Enraged NRL supporters have criticised St George Illawarra captain Ben Hunt for needless lack of sportsmanship after his team’s historic victory against the helpless Wests Tigers on Friday night. In a 56-14 rout of the Tigers in Wollongong, Zac Lomax and Brad Hunt superbly followed up their State of Origin exploits, setting a new point-scoring record for the joint venture side.
With a hat-trick of tries and a flawless 10-from-10 boot kick, Lomax created a new club record most points scored in an NRL game—32. The Blues winger, who made an impressive start for Origin on Wednesday night against a losing NSW team, put on an incredible individual display as the Tigers utterly collapsed in the second half, falling to a 44-0 defeat after leading 14-12 at halftime.
Following his Origin efforts for the winning Maroons on Wednesday night, Hunt was exceptional for the Dragons as well. In spite of his exploits on the Origin stage just 48 hours prior, the seasoned Dragons captain scored a try to go along with four try assists and a line break in an incredible performance.
Despite all of Hunt’s excellent play during the competition, irate spectators denounced him for what they saw as a “disgraceful” act against rival forward Samuela Fainu. After exposing some nonexistent Tigers defence, the Dragons halfback jinked his way over the tryline before leaping over for an easy try.
However, as soon as he stood up, Hunt threw the ball right into Fainu’s stomach. Hunt appeared to be upset with the Tigers forward’s contact as he slid over to try to stop the try. Hunt had already grounded the ball, therefore Fainu’s attempt was ineffective, but replays revealed there wasn’t much contact, which led to criticism of Hunt for his actions.
Only a mid-air collision with Solomon Alaimalo, who had to be removed from the pitch, marred Lomax’s record-breaking night. After sprinting to get onto the end of a high kick, Lomax had his eyes on the ball. However, he misjudged his timing and struck Alaimalo in the midsection, injuring him as he landed awkwardly.
Lomax was put under investigation, but on Saturday the match review committee cleared him. When he was asked about the potential impact of a grade-three dangerous contact charge on his availability for the NSW Origin, the Dragons star didn’t seem to think much of it after the game. He said, “I was heading for the ball.” I’ve taken a little hit, but I’m not exactly sure why. I had my eyes on the ball. I went to go up for the ball because I had my sights on it and just took a hit.”
The Wests Tigers, under head coach Benji Marshall, have now lost nine games in a row, and should the Rabbitohs upset the Titans, they might finish the round bottom of the ladder. The Tigers, who had leads of 10-0 at the beginning of the game and then by two points at the break, collapsed in the second half and were only able to reach an end-of-set kick twice in the next forty minutes.
