Fans fume over NRL bunker drama as Souths hero rocked in 'shattering' scenes
Souths have provided fresh details on Alex Johnston's injury after the club hero went off injured after scoring a try in his side's 28-18 win over Penrith. The Panthers were 28-0 down at halftime and despite keeping the Rabbitohs scoreless in the second half, they were powerless to prevent a third-straight defeat, with a disallowed try for Moses Leota proving costly as fans lashed out at the bunker over the questionable call.
Johnston made his long-awaited return for Souths since rupturing his Achilles tendon last August and the club's record try-scorer took less than 10 minutes to dive over and score. However, the veteran winger came down awkwardly on his elbow and got up in some discomfort. He managed to get through the first half but did not return for the second forty, amid reports Johnston had suffered a shoulder injury.
Souths officials have since confirmed that Johnston has dome some damage to his left scapula, but are hopeful it is not serious ahead of next Friday's Sydney Roosters blockbuster. "He's pretty good," Souths coach Wayne Bennett said. "We're not sure whether he'll miss a game or a couple of games, but it's not on the too-serious list."
Johnston is also off contract at the end of this year but Bennett seems keen on extending the veteran, whose try on Thursday night got him to within 16 of equalling Ken Irvine's record mark of 212 career tries. "He's been a lifelong player here and is closing in on being the leading try-scorer in the game," Bennett said this week. "The club would like to see him finish his career here. We'll talk to him ... We want him to stay, but they've got to want to stay as well and be happy with the deal."
The Rabbitohs are already without centre Campbell Graham for around three more games, but are set to welcome back superstar fullback Latrell Mitchell for next week's grudge match against the Roosters. But the sight of the the club's champion winger Johnston suffering another cruel injury setback in his first game back, left fans gutted for the veteran.
Demoralising to hear Alex Johnston succumbing to a shoulder injury in his first game back from an Achilles injury. scored a try while he was on the pitch, but clearly he was favouring his damaged shoulder after scoring. Shattering news for AJ. #NRLSouthsPanthers
— Robert Smith (@OnyaDon) March 27, 2025
#NRL #NRLSouthsPanthers Terrible news for Alex Johnston; he won't return tonight, fears of a shoulder/scapula injury after scoring his first try back from a ruptured achilles.
— NRL News (@NRLNEWS) March 27, 2025
Four-time premiership-winning Penrith coach Ivan Cleary described his side's 28-0 first half drubbing as one of the most "comical" 40 minutes of footy his team have dished up in his time in charge. The Panthers were missing champion halfback Nathan Cleary (concussion) and had a much-changed backline but the coach said he took responsibility for the defeat, after Penrith's defence was picked apart with alarming ease.
Penrith have been the benchmark in defence for years but have now conceded 118 points across their first four games, which is more than they leaked after 13 rounds in 2021. "We just haven't got any rhythm in the way we're playing," Cleary said. "We're going to need to find it really soon. Once we get that, we will have a better idea of how we're going."
One small comfort for the Panthers was the second half performance that kept the Rabbitohs scoreless and included tries to Liam Martin, Brad Schneider and Jack Cole. It could have and really should have been four tries, but the bunker inexplicably turned down what most thought was a legitimate try to Leota in the 61st minute that proved very costly.
RELATED:
DCE family detail singled out as legend makes $1.5m contract call
Shock DCE exit claim as Manly player slaps down Wayne Bennett swipe
Manly CEO reveals coaching offer for DCE in stunning twist to saga
The Penrith prop broke free of a couple of Rabbitohs tacklers close to the tryline, before getting back up and crashing over. Leota planted the ball down but it spilled out very quickly, prompting referee Ashley Klein to send it up as a 'no try'. And despite replays indicating Leota had control and grounded the ball before it spilled out, the bunker disagreed - leaving commentators and viewers gobsmacked.
'I thought he got it down,' Fox League commentator Andrew Voss said. 'It squeezes out sideways. There is no separation. It is downward pressure that makes it squeeze sideways. I know I failed physics, but isn't it the force of hand on ball that squeezes it sideways?' Michael Ennis added: 'That's a try. He gets the footy down. Moses Leota can't believe it. Ivan Cleary can't believe it.' Voss added: "That is a try every day of the week since April 20, 1908."
Blow up the bunker @NRL.. what a shocker.#NRLSouthsPanthers
— Silvatails (@Goodsy2008) March 27, 2025
How was that called a NO TRY for Moses Leota? 🤦♂️ #NRLSouthsPanthers
— Junior from far away (@IneffableJR) March 27, 2025
That was a try everyday of the week clear as days….. the bunker is an absolute joke #NRLSouthsPanthers
— P (@PS199723) March 27, 2025
How was tanks try not a try? I don't understand it? #NRLSouthsPanthers
— Mancave Sports Australia (@mancavesportsoz) March 27, 2025
That is a wild decision from the bunker lol that's given a try at least 5 times a week #NRLSouthsPanthers
— KC (@kc_the1) March 27, 2025
with AAP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
'They cheated y'all': Panthers hockey world reacts to Edmonton Oilers beating Florida in Game 1
How is Florida Panthers hockey country taking Edmonton's 4-3 OT win over their favourite team? What are they blaming the loss on? The mainstream media, social media and podcasts were full of theories. Here are some of the highlights, with some neutral commentary included as well: Bill Horosz of the On the Prowl: Florida Panthers Den podcast Too many players were MIA last night. Barkov, Tkachuk are two that come to mind. There were a lot of others. Barkov with several mistakes. Very uncharacteristic. Florida fan *WADDLEVILLE* @WADDLEVILL61682 They cheated y'all. It's all good though. Only win they'll have. Florida fan Jacob Winans @JacobWinans8 Nico Sturm in for Nosek next game. My goodness what a costly mistake. I miss Kevin Stenlund. Cats 'N Rats podcast host Kirby Lupul The Panther fans — and rightfully so — were pounding our chest coming into this series: 'We have the depth.' Well, our depth guy kills us in overtime with the delay game penalty. Their depth guy Arvidsson gets his second goal of these playoffs. And Ekholm, who re-enters into the lineup, they get a defenseman goal. They kind of killed us at our own game plan tonight, our blueprint tonight. Florida fan kyle @Kylepuck16 We didn't lose the game because of the penalty in overtime so stop blaming Nosek. Florida fan Adam @AGBRSports I've got nothing good or positive to say. Florida fan Erik 😺🏆🐀 @erik_on_hockey The good news is, this is among the worst Florida has looked this postseason, so I expect a big response from them. It ain't over yet Cody Stevens of the Cats 'N' Rats podcast This was probably the first time in this post-season that I felt the Panthers looked fatigued, namely Gustav Forsling… He's not really playing that well. Florida podcaster T.J. Peterson, the Panther Pourri podcast I thought that it was a very even game until Edmonton just seemed to have gas at the end of the game that the Panthers didn't have. The only real explanation I have for that is the fact that the Panthers just flew across the country and the Oilers didn't have to. The flight from Dallas is just not as far and they (the Oilers) get to sleep in their own beds for all the subsequent days. And they also did it like five days ago, whereas the Panthers flew to Edmonton like two days ago… A team that is as top heavy as Edmonton should not be the one that looks like they have the gas, as opposed to the Panthers having nothing left in their tanks, when the Panthers are supposed to be the deeper team. Florida Panthers Insider George Richards @GeorgeRichards The Florida Panthers had never lost a playoff game under Paul Maurice when leading after the first or second. Until tonight. Leon Draisaitl scores the first and final goal as the Oilers take Game 1 of the Cup Final in OT. Florida player Brad Marchand Have to move on. It's one game, can't get stuck in the past. We'll regroup, refocus and move on to the next one. Host Armando Velez of the Locked On Panthers podcast Man, the amount of zone time that we saw that second line have, but just couldn't hit the net. There were so many opportunities where Tkachuk would win a board battle, feed Carter Verhaeghe, shoots wide of the net. And there were times where there was even no screen… I felt like there was a lot of panic. Florida sports radio WQAM Josh Appel, quest on Locked On Panthers podcast This team does not lose games when they have the lead. They don't lose games when they have multi-goal leads. And so this is just a really, really tough one to swallow for a variety of different reasons. Panthers fan Jacob Winans @JacobWinans8 The overtime mistakes and dead legs were bad. But it never has to get there if the Panthers play with an ounce of urgency in the third. To come out at only get two shots on goal the entire third period was completely unacceptable Bill Horosz of the On the Prowl: Florida Panthers Den podcast Panthers were taken off guard by the Oilers being physical last night. That won't happen again. With that they also need to establish a consistent forecheck. It was almost nowhere to be found in Game 1. Cats 'N Rats podcast host Kirby Lupul I'm going to take a little solace in the fact that we played our game. We didn't get run all the building. Cody Stevens of the Cats 'N' Rats podcast We're kind of downplaying the revenge factor (for the Oilers) and in over time that is when you're quicker to pucks — I think that's when it comes into play. Florida fan Dylan @miamiguydylan The Oilers beat Bob on the glove side for all 4 goals tonight. Just something worth fan mathias @MathiasMejia_ panthers had an off night and still were able to take a fiery edmonton team to OT. they'll be ok Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky There were lots of good things. We put it behind us and get ready for the next game. The next game is a big game. ESPN's ᴀʀᴅᴀ Öᴄᴀʟ @Arda Leon Draisaitl in the Stanley Cup Final: 2024: 0 goals in 7 games on 16 shots on goal 2025: 2 goals in 1 game on 4 shots on goal Florida fan @VinMasiDylan @miamiguydylan Panthers played a fantastic second period and then something just changed. Played terrible the rest of the game. Florida fan Jacob Winans @JacobWinans8 (Fourth line players) Nosek, Greer, Gadjo needs to be a package. If they're not all in the game, none can be in the game. That line was god awful tonight Florida fan Dylan @miamiguydylan Stupid penalty by Nosek leads to that. Going to cry The Athletic's Pierre Lebrun What we saw Wednesday night was two heavyweights trading punches and counter-punches, the margins razor-thin between two teams so used to dominating their opposition for longer stretches in these playoffs… An opening win meant a lot to an Oilers team that dug an 0-3 series hole a year ago. But believe me when I say this is going the distance between two unbelievably evenly-matched teams. Game 1 told us that. Panthers fan Adam @AGBRSports Like there was no need for that Nosek penalty. Time running out in the period He had time and space. Just play it up the ice, clear the zone. Don't throw it into the stratosphere. Vancouver hockey commentator Thomas Drance @ThomasDrance Brilliance from Draisaitl and McDavid. Wow. Probably a pretty good sign for the Oilers in the big picture of this series that they were able to comeback and win in a game that was largely dictated by the Florida forecheck. Bill Horosz, host On the Prowl: Florida Panthers Den podcast Players seemed very calm and matter of fact during postgame interviews. A little too calm for my taste. Paul Maurice was heaping praise on Nosek for what he did in Game 3 vs. Toronto and said we wouldn't be here (Finals) if it wasn't for him. Panthers fan TONY-O @MojoFilter64 Seth Jones with the overplay on the side boards near the blue line on RNH caused this play (the winning OT goal) to happen ….. should have forced him inside toward Marchand but he didn't. Panthers fan Koby Doran @Lyteskin_Prince Reinhart, Barkov, Ekblad all being ghost in the most important games lol. Might as well play Bennett line and Marchand line 60 minutes. Panthers fan Robbie @GVGC1970 Panthers were the better the team. Never easy on the pp when they've got McDavid and Drisital. Panthers in six. 👊 Florida podcaster T.J. Peterson, the Panther Pourri podcast The Arvidsson goal. That's the individual mistake that I feel like was the most costly in the entire game. I know that Bobrovsky was slightly screened, but there was at least one and probably several other times where Stuart Skinner had a partial screen on him and he still managed to make a save. Stuart Skinner outplayed Bob tonight. That can't happen. Bob makes $10 million…(But) that's not repeatable. What happened with Bob giving up the weird goals? We haven't really been seeing him do that. So there's no real reason to think it's going to happen again. Panthers fan Dr. Debunker@doctordebunker Tkachuk @TKACHUKycheese_ lost this game for us. Watch this guy on the ice. Slow as molasses. He's clearly hurt. Not the same player. Give someone else a shot and sit this one out big guy…Get Tkachuk off the ice . Guy is clearly playing hurt and it shows. Not skating. Put someone else in who gives us a chance Florida fan Jacob Winans @JacobWinans8 Boy there's nothing I love more than a Matthew Tkachuk Great Clips commercial after he just spent the evening doing absolutely nothing of value in Game 1 of the Final Panthers fan ZeroTrust Capo @The_CyberDon You can't make a terrible mistake like that. Nobody was even pressing you Nosek!!! Panthers fan M33 @Moore33Gaming What a stupid way to lose a game. Bill Horosz of the On the Prowl: Florida Panthers Den podcast Don't sit on a lead. When you get a couple of goals past Skinner, dial up the pressure even more. Panthers failed to do that. With that Panthers need to have a net front presence to screen Skinner and deflect shots/handle rebounds. Host Armando Velez of the Locked On Panthers podcast It wasn't really a lot of time where the Panthers really had the ice tilted in their direction… The amount of misconnections that the Panthers were having with breakouts out of their own end in overtime, I counted at least five times where they iced the puck. And I'm just scratching my head right here. I'm just thinking, 'Oh man, this could spell some bad news for the Panthers.' Panthers fan zubic @zubic_eth What an absolute fumble after being up 2 goals 😭 Panthers fan John Ricard @johnricard Could the media gush any more for Edmonton and McDavid? It was gross. Florida fan Big Hits 🇺🇸🎸🏒⛳ @young5skiers Head up… It took a penalty call late in overtime to give the Oilers a chance to win the game. If I'm Florida, I'm feeling pretty confident 😎 4 dubs till B2B Florida Panthers championships! @SazonBailando Woke up feeling like I got stabbed last night. That OT Oilers goal killed me. ESPN's John Buccigross @Buccigross 14 of the previous 18 Game 1 OT winners have gone on to win the Stanley Cup Final. Florida fan FL PanthersMuse @flpanthersmuse Bobby last night: — .913 SV% — 42 saves — 4 GA — 11 high-danger saves Kept us in it🙏🏻 Florida fan Adam – 🙀🏆 @FlaPnthrsPunk Bob deserved better. Must win in Game 2. 😾 Florida Panthers player Sam Bennett It was a one-goal game, a tight game. It could've went either way. They had a good push in the third. New York hockey columnist Stan Fischler @StanFischler Game One more than lived up to its billing and then some. The two best teams battle into overtime. A 7 game series would be hockey fan's delight! Florida podcaster T.J. Peterson, the Panther Pourri podcast The only thing that is truly ingrained with me is how much (Florida) fell apart and how much they looked like they were skating in quicksand at the end of the game. A sign of the fatigue of playing 400 games. But it doesn't really feel like that's the right answer when the Oilers have played what, six or seven fewer games because of the fact that they were in the Cup Final last year and how quickly the Panthers got to the Cup Final the year before. And the fact that (Edmonton) are the most top heavy team at this stage… Shouldn't a team like that be experiencing significant fatigue when, you know, they're playing forwards 30 minutes a game? Is it the jet lag? You got to find an explanation. 1. The Grade A shots count tell the story of Edmonton winning this game. Edmonton was the better team in the first, seven Grade A shots to four for the Panthers. Florida was the better team in the second, five Grade A shots for them to two for the Oilers. And Edmonton dominated after that, 10 Grade A shots to three for the Panthers. In the end, this game wasn't that close, Edmonton with 19 Grade A shots, Florida with 12. Edmonton deserved this win, full stop. 2. Edmonton came out hitting, showing Florida they will not be pushed around and will be doing plenty of the pushing. The presence of a healthy Evander Kane, who made key physical plays around the net on two Oilers goals, was critical for the Oilers. Kane took up where Zach Hyman left off, throwing nine hits, a few of them punishing ones, including a nasty shot on top Florida d-man Aaron Ekblad early in the game. What Kane brings to the Final — what he couldn't bring last year due to injury — is invaluable. Every Oilers is two inches taller and twenty pounds heavier when they're on the ice with him, but he's also got plenty of back-up as well with Vasily Podkolzin, Darnell Nurse, Corey Perry, Trent Frederic and a line-up full of committed, determined veterans. Florida isn't used to a team that can bully back, I'll suggest. 3. Florida showed in the second that their forechecking can take over a game. The persistent onslaught and aggressive pinching by the Florida d-men at the offensive blueline was unlike anything the Oilers had faced in the 2025 playoffs. But it failed to result in enough greasy goals for Florida. To win, the Panthers needed one more shot to bounce in off someone or something. 4. After the game Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch insisted that he'd make the same coach's challenge again that he did on Florida's first goal. I hope not. Perhaps Knoblauch had yet to see the complete replay, but it was clear that Bennett was tripped up by Brett Kulak's skate and fell into Stuart Skinner due to that. Was Bennett looking for that contact, looking for an excuse to flop into Skinner? Maybe. Likely. But the skate-on-skate happened, it tripped up Bennett and it was an iffy challenge at best. The Oilers should own that. They screwed up. 5. As for any suggestion that the Oilers cheated, I don't get it. Fans of both teams were mad about the referees. I saw a Mikkola slew foot on McDavid that I didn't like. But Florida fans were up in arms about an alleged Oilers too-many-men-on-the-ice situation that they felt the refs missed. Such is playoff hockey. Nosek's penalty was a clear and obvious call to make, and one that the refs couldn't pretend they didn't see. 6. The winning goal was a thing of beauty, a testament to the calm, the cool, the experience and the brilliant skill of the Oilers power players. It started with the trademark Ryan Nugent-Hopkins backhand back pass off-the-boards to Evan Bouchard at the blueline (how many times have we seen that play?), then saw RNH and Perry both make no-look passes, the Virtuous Cycle climaxing in Connor McDavid setting up Leon Draisaitl for his Executioner's Shot. The deadliest duo and the most lethal shot in hockey struck again. Draisaitl scores on 34 per cent of his Executioner's Shots that hit the net, something we've been tracking at the Cult since 2019-20.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
UFC 316: Vicente Luque media day interview
Why Panthers Game 1 loss to Oilers was 'crushing' Dan Le Batard and Co. unpack the "crushing" loss for the Panthers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals and discuss how they may rebound to contain Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. 10:20 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Matthew Tkachuk explains Panthers' ‘fun tradition' of shooting rats at Brad Marchand
The Panthers shooting rats at Brad Marchand after wins has become a tradition for the team. A few of the former Boston Bruins captain's teammates wait for him before he gets off the ice to shoot the plastic rodents. That tradition continued when Florida defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 to punch its ticket to a third straight Stanley Cup Final with a chance to repeat as champions. After Marchand did his on-ice interview with TNT, Matthew Tkachuk, Evan Rodrigues and Aleksander Barkov were waiting with their rats. Advertisement While Tkachuk isn't sure how the tradition came to be, he explained during a recent appearance on 'The Pat McAfee Show' how it's become part of their postgame process. 'I don't actually recall how it started because I wasn't playing in the regular season,' Tkahuck said. 'I normally go out, leave the ice second-to-last with Barky after a win and once it came to Game 1 of the playoffs, Marchy picked up a few rats — maybe for his kids or people that were asking. 'I think E-Rod shot the first one at him, and then Barky was like, 'If you're going to shoot one, then I'll pass one nicely into you.' Then, when I came back, we started firing them at him,' he continued. 'So, it's been a fun tradition and people seem to like it. It fits what our team is all about: Having fun and not taking anything too seriously.' It's something that's made coach Paul Maurice laugh. Advertisement 'I will tell you, they're shooting them as hard as they can. They're not flipping them at him. There's shrapnel around there, and I didn't have any equipment on,' he told reporters recently, via ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. 'I was just trying to get off the ice. Like, it hurt. But they're eating them up at them, and he's trying to get out of the way. It is funny as hell.' Marchand added: 'It's just one of those things that happens organically. We don't overthink it. We just have fun out there.' While the Panthers like to keep it loose, they know the job isn't done. They have a chance to repeat as Stanley Cup champions in a 2024 rematch with the Edmonton Oilers. 'We haven't accomplished anything yet,' Marchand told reporters after Florida's Game 5 win. 'The toughest team we're gonna face is coming up next. If you don't do the job there, you didn't win anything. We're excited, but it's just like any other round. There's a huge job to do moving forward and we have to prepare for that now.' More Bruins content Read the original article on MassLive.
