Days of our Lives eat your heart out.

Whatever the soaps can dish out, rugby league can see and then raise some.

Where else would one of the star players get blinded by the pre-game pyrotechnics. Sorry, that should be pre-game spark simulations.

But blinded they were. They being Canberra Raiders centre Joey Leilua.

He had a big "rock" flung into his eye as he ran out. It forced him out of the starting side and almost out of the game all together.

Luckily the Raiders medical staff got it out of his eye in the nick of time.

"It was a bit of stress eh, some ashes got in my eye," Leilua said.

"It felt like a rock at the time. I was trying to lift my eyelid and it just hurt.

"The doctor came in and he didn't believe me. Eventually he pulled my eyelid all the way up and he found it - a bit of ash in there."

"I should make a complaint," he cheekily added.

It certainly wasn't a good look as the saying goes these days and it had both the NRL and Fortunato Foti - the company in charge of the equipment - issuing statements left, right and centre

The NRL said they were " reviewing all circumstances around the incident."

And in terms of the Raiders making a late, late change with Leilua going off and Simonsson coming on without the Raiders losing an interchange.

The game hadn't started after all.

"The late change before the kick-off was made within the rules," an NRL spokesperson said.

"There is no provision under the rules to allow a free interchange after the game commences."

Then there's the red-faced pyrotechnics company, whose equipment had left Leilua with a bad-case of pink eye.

"In relation to the incident at AAMI Park, we would firstly like to say that the incident is regrettable," the statement said.

"We would also like to clarify that the cause of the incident was not a firework.

"The effect used is a spark simulation machine, which are classified as non-pyrotechnic.

"It appears that some grit from these machines came in contact with the players eye.

"Foti International have been using these non-pyrotechnic machines on a regular basis for 12 months without incident.

"The system is designed to be used in close proximity to people.

"Foti International will carry out an internal investigation to properly assess the cause."

While Leilua's eye problem sent Raiders coach Ricky Stuart into a mad scramble moving his players around, the Green Machine mentor interestingly said he was thankful the Footy Gods had smiled on him for once.

That's because he had outside back Bailey Simonsson on the bench.

"Straight away I was thinking of the worst-case scenario and trying to work out who what was going to be my next decision," Stuart said. "Luck is a big thing in these big games and we had a bit of luck in having Bailey on the bench ... sometimes the Footy Gods look down on you."