Tensions Flare As Blake Blasts Old Team
Canberra Raiders beat Cronulla Sharks with Paul Aiton sent off
Christian Nicolussi
March 14, 2011 12:00AM 23
CANBERRA 40 CRONULLA 12
THE ugly feud between Blake Ferguson and his former Cronulla teammates boiled over in the nation's capital yesterday and ended with Sharks hooker Paul Aiton being sent off for a shocking headbutt.
There had been talk that Cronulla players would target Ferguson because of his comment last year that he was moving to Canberra to be with a club that could win a title.
After several heated verbal and physical confrontations, Colin Best sparked an all-in brawl in the 75th minute when he took out Ferguson off the ball.
Meanwhile, in a major surprise, the Newcastle Knights scored seven tries against a poor Penrith at Penrith Stadium.
Aiton headbutted Raiders centre Joel Thompson during the scuffle and referee Ashley Klein sent him straight from the field.
Ferguson scored a try, set up two more and produced a try-saving tackle in Canberra's 40-12 romp over the Sharks.
And he thought the Sharks would give him more stick.
"I expected a bit more from them, but it was a good first game for the Raiders and I was happy to come away with a win against my old club," Ferguson said.
"I was pretty dirty with what happened [the late tackle]. I was watching the ball and the next minute I know I'm on the ground.
"We shouldn't be having headbutts in games."
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan said there had been no talk about singling out Ferguson, and he hadn't had a chance to speak with Aiton about the incident.
"I couldn't see it in the replays they showed," Flanagan said. "There were quite a few people in there, and it's not in his nature or character, so we'll wait and time will tell."
Thompson did not want to speak about the incident, while Aiton, the Papua New Guinea skipper, was also unavailable for comment.
Raiders debutant halfback Sam Williams was a shining light, but Ferguson was a real hit among the 13,450 fans at Canberra Stadium.
The winger was penalised in the opening minute for holding down Sharks fullback Nathan Gardner, but then produced a brilliant tackle to deny Gardner what appeared to be a certain four-pointer.
The Sharks crossed first through Luke Douglas, but from there it was one-way traffic from the Raiders - and Ferguson made sure he played a key role.
He had a touch in Josh McCrone's try, batted back a bomb to set up Dane Tilse's four-pointer, and showed great athleticism to pluck a Sam Williams bomb from the grasp of rival winger Matthew Wright for his own try.
"The first half they tested us, but our forward pack was much stronger this game," Ferguson said.
"We played hard and it showed on the scoreboard.
"It was awesome to get a try. I hadn't scored one in a while."
CANBERRA 40 (J Croker S Fensom B Ferguson J McCrone J Picker D Tilse D Vidot tries J Croker 6 goals) bt CRONULLA 12 (L Douglas N Gardner tries J Williams 2 goals) at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Adam Devcich, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 13,450.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp.../story-e6frexnr-1226020646916?from=public_rss
