Bulldogs stun Manly at Brookvale
Manly coach Des Hasler criticised centre Steve Matai following his high shot on Canterbury hooker Michael Ennis in Sunday's 30-24 defeat at Brookvale Oval.
Ennis had to be helped off the field in the 50th-minute following the bone-shuddering high shot off the ball from Matai, before, returning for the final 10 minutes to guide the Bulldogs to a shock win in front of a crowd of 15,933.
Matai has a poor disciplinary record and had already served a three-game ban this season for a similar offence against Parramatta's Jarryd Hayne in round 10 and looks almost certain to spend more time on the sidelines when the match review committee assess the incident on Monday.
"It didn't look good from the first angle I saw it, I don't think his carryovers are all that good so it doesn't look good," said Hasler.
"I think Steve will be disappointed, it puts us in a position where we need a player of his calibre ... especially when we are already down on troops so we could do without it.
"Young centre Dean Whare injured himself in the 20s ... it makes it even tougher for us now."
Matai was joined on report by skipper Jason King and Chris Bailey, who were penalised for high tackles and Hasler revealed his side was left with a lengthy injury list following an intense encounter.
Anthony Watmough (ankle), Kieran Foran (shoulder), Brent Kite (collarbone) Joe Guluvao (groin) and co-captain Jamie Lyon are all struggling with knocks.
"We are busted, left, right and centre in there, we are really struggling," Hasler said.
Canterbury coach Kevin Moore was delighted with his side's character and that they managed to send Brett Kimmorley and long-serving fullback Luke Patten, who are leaving the club, out on a high.
Kimmorley played the 307th and final game of his career at Brookvale and long-serving fullback Patten, who is moving to England to join Salford, quits the club after more than a decade.
"It has been a pretty tough season for us, we got off to a dusty start, we have had a lot of injuries up front which have hurt us, at the start of the year, but we have played our best footy at the back of the year.
"You get to the back end of the year when you can't make it and you are probably looking for something to motivate you and I think it showed the esteem those two are held in that we played so well in their last game," Moore said.
"Everyone at the club appreciates what General (Patten) has offered to the club and also the contribution Noddy has made in the two years he has been here and the boys wanted to send them off on a good note."
Moore played down the incident with Ennis and refused to be drawn on whether Matai should have been sent off by referee Shayne Hayne.
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