‘Called him a few mean words’: Raiders enforcer’s hilarious response after Sharks sin bin
Sharks enforcer Royce Hunt was given his marching orders for an alleged punch on Raiders forward Corey Horsburgh.
2 min read
March 19, 2023 - 9:54PM
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Hunt throws first PUNCH of 2023 season!
Sharks enforcer Royce Hunt was given his marching orders for an alleged punch that “barely repositioned that red goatee” of Raiders forward Corey Horsburgh.
With 30 minutes left in the clash, Horsburgh held his opposing prop back after a scrum, pushing Hunt who landed on his back.
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Horsburgh had been pestering Hunt for majority of the match and the Sharks prop lost his cool, striking the Raiders enforcer in back play.
“He was holding me and then pushed me over, he was holding me in the scrum literally the whole time,” Hunt said to referee Ashley Klein.
“I understand that okay, we’ve missed that element of it, but you’ve gone and struck him,” Klein said.
“You’ve taken everything out of our hands so you’re going to go in the bin for striking”.
The Raiders were able to orchestrate a try after Hunt charged back at Horsburgh in backplay.
Centre Matt Timoko charged through the gaping hole left by Hunt, getting his side within 10 metres before Horsburgh crashed over next to the posts.
Royce Hunt punches Horsburgh news
‘Big red’ gave Hunt a mouthful while celebrating his second four-pointer and Fox League’s Cooper Cronk explained the scuffle led to the crucial try.
“This is it here in the back play, Corey Horsburgh has pushed him over and Royce Hunt has come up and said ‘let’s dance’ and Royce Hunt must have throw a punch - is that it there?” Cronk said.
“Essentially that made the break... and Corey Horsburgh gets one back on the Sharks front-rower because he lets him know about it by scoring that try.
“Ultimately it cost Royce Hunt 10 in the bin and the Sharks are under pressure again.”
Fox League sideline reporter Matt Russell added: “It wasn’t much of a punch, barely repositioned that red goatee of Corey Horsburgh as Hunt lashed out, but still I suppose technically it was a punch.”
Horsburgh had a huge night. Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images
Speaking on the Matty Johns show post-match, Horsburgh said the scuffle was all “good fun”.
“Just a bit of good banter, he slapped me in the face so I pushed him over, then he gave me one, and then I called him a few mean words, good fun, I love it,” Horsburgh said.
Meanwhile, Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon was clearly angry with his prop for retaliating and said he “got it wrong”.
However, Fitzgibbon was shocked the Raiders weren’t also punished for Horsburgh’s tactics.
“You can’t just hold onto someone from the back of a scrum, push them over… but you can’t do what Royce did so it should have been picked up by someone before Royce retaliated,” Fitzgibbon said in the post-match press conference.
“Royce shouldn’t have retaliated like that, especially not while we were defending our goal line.
“So Royce will get a lesson in that but you can’t hold someone back from a scrum, push them over then get away scot free while we lose Royce for 10 minutes.”
