BLOODIED, battered and bruised - the Canberra Raiders survived a stern examination from the Sydney Roosters to keep their finals hopes alive.
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Roosters fullback Anthony Minichiello was sent off for a forearm to the head of Josh Dugan as the Raiders hung on for a gritty 24-20 victory at a chilly Canberra Stadium last night.
Roosters coach Brian Smith took the unusual step of telling journalists in his post-match press conference he could not comment because he could be in breach of NRL guidelines.
''Before we start, the league have given us a warning not to talk about foul-play incidents, or alleged foul-play incidents, so we won't be making any comment about that,'' Smith said.
Minichiello was said to be stunned, while Dugan had blood pouring from his chin.
The incident occurred when Dugan was streaming down field late in the game, his rival fullback hanging out his arm in a desperate lunge to stop a try.
Dugan crashed immediately to the turf and players from both sides ran in as a melee formed.
The referees had no hesitation in sending Minichiello from the ground and it is sure to attract attention from the match review committee later in the week.
Neither player was available for comment.
Raiders coach David Furner believed Minichiello didn't have any intent to harm Dugan and was doing whatever it took to keep his side in the game. ''I think you could see it,'' Furner said.
''I don't think he's that sort of player but sometimes you're trying to win games.
''It didn't look that good, anyway.''
It was the second time the game reached a flashpoint, Raiders lock Shaun Fensom throwing a punch at a Roosters player earlier in the match.
Raiders captain David Shillington wasn't surprised the match boiled over given the physical players in the Roosters line-up.
''They've got a couple of players there that are quite confrontational and want to play up in your face,'' he said.
''We were expecting that.''
The Raiders have now won three straight games for the first time since the 2010 finals to even their season ledger at 11-11.
They are level on competition points with the seventh-placed Brisbane Broncos and the Wests Tigers, but are outside the top eight with an inferior points differential.
The Raiders have a tricky run home if they are to make the playoffs.
They host the ladder-leading Canterbury Bulldogs next Friday night before heading across the Tasman to round out the regular season against the struggling New Zealand Warriors in Auckland.
The Raiders were expected to easily account for a Roosters side with nothing to play for but to avoid the wooden spoon.
But despite electing to abandon their training session on Friday in Canberra because of the wet and cold weather, the Roosters put up a fight in more ways than one.
Smith took aim at the officials for a couple of costly calls which didn't go his side's way.
The first was a forward pass which denied Mitchell Pearce a try, followed by the call by the video referee to not award a four-pointer to Tautau Moga when he was held up over the try line.
When asked where the match was lost, Smith replied: ''A little bit in the video referee's box, I think it might have been the far touch judge called a forward pass.
''There's always a bit of stuff we can do better, but I thought it was a spirited performance from our boys.
''We were still trying to get the game in the last minute.
''The reality is we had two really close calls, went against us tonight.''
After a couple of contentious decisions in the Wests Tigers' loss to the Bulldogs on Friday night, Roosters captain Braith Anasta believed referee's boss Bill Harrigan's phone would be running hot this week.
''They'll be rather busy this weekend, could be a busy Monday,'' Anasta said.
Raiders hooker Glen Buttriss was solid in his first game back from injury since round eight, while Smith praised the performance of debutant winger Daniel Tupou.