Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was always going to be fired up in his milestone 307th game for the Sydney Roosters – but he found himself in hot water for one ugly moment against the Dragons on Sunday afternoon.
The veteran enforcer broke Mitchell Aubusson's record for most games in the famous red, white and blue at Allianz Stadium, with plenty of emotion involved.
Things started off poorly for the visitors, with a pinpoint grubber kick from Sam Walker landing safely in the hands of Victor Radley to open the scoring.
FOLLOW LIVE: NRL round 18 Sunday
FOLLOW LIVE: State of Origin decider team news
READ MORE: Iconic moment Aussie duo won gold on Bondi Beach
Jaydn Su'A was placed on report for a late hit on Brandon Smith, allowing the Roosters to extend their lead with a simple penalty goal for Walker.
But mid-way through the opening half, Waerea-Hargreaves flew out of the line in trademark fashion and collected Max Feagai in the head.
As he was called out of the line, microphones captured Waerea-Hargreaves pleading with Klein to let him stay on the park.
"That's not 10," he could be head saying.
But Klein disagreed and sat the prop down for 10 minutes.
"It was written in the stars," Warren Smith said on Fox League.
Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.
Cooper Cronk admitted it was "short odds" for the enforcer to be given his marching orders in a milestone game, but Steve Roach didn't agree with the decision.
"I can't believe that, it was more shoulder," he said.
"It might have been a little bit high … I don't know about that one."
Despite being down to 12 men for the period Waerea-Hargreaves was off the field, the Roosters managed to hold out the Dragons, who were struggling with ball in hand, before Dom Young crossed in the corner to keep the roll going on their home turf.
Jacob Liddle scored before the break to put St George Illawarra on the board and Christian Tuipolotu narrowed the margin to just two points after half-time.
In the process of Tuipolotu's try, Radley was knocked out and left the field.
But as they tend to do, the Dragons fell apart in the final 20 minutes as the Roosters piled on the points and cemented their spot in the NRL top-four.
Speaking to Fox League post-game, the man of the moment reflected on the victory and his career at Bondi, which has seen him win three premierships.
"I'm just so proud, thanks to everyone … I love this club," Waerea-Hargreaves said.
"It means everything and just a real proud moment for myself, the team and the family.
"I am really proud and honoured to be part of this proud club. It's been overwhelming – the amount of texts and calls from ex-coaches and teammates.
"There's a lot of emotion and that's why you play."
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.