Penrith Panthers trainer Corey Bocking has been accused of robbing the Gold Coast Titans of a win over his team with an act of ‘pathetic sportsmanship’ on Saturday.
The Titans had scored five tries in 25 minutes to take a 26-24 lead late in regular time when Bocking ran in front of Gold Coast kicker Jayden Campbell as he attempted a conversion.
Campbell missed the kick after having to re-set himself. Had he converted, the score would have been 28-24 with just four minutes to play.
Instead, Penrith star Nathan Cleary was able to boot a two-point conversion in the last minute of regular time to take the match to golden point, with his teammate Blaze Talagi scoring a try in extra time to seal the 30-26 win.
To add insult to injury, footage from Fox Sports’ coverage of the match showed Bocking appearing to smile as he ran past Campbell after ruining his preparation for the shot at goal.
Afterwards, Titans coach Des Hasler said he didn’t know whether the incident cost his team the game – but fans had no such doubts.
Pictured: The moment Penrith trainer Corey Bocking ran in front of Gold Coast’s Jayden Campbell as he prepared to take a conversion kick that could have won the match for his team
To add insult to injury, Bocking was seen appearing to smile (pictured) as he got off the field straight after the highly controversial incident
Furious fans like this one vented their fury on social media after the Panthers won the match in extra time, with many saying the trainer robbed the Titans of a win
‘Titans robbed. Panthers trainer running right in front of Jayden Campbell as he’s about to kick is disgusting. Panthers should be DQ’d from that result for clear blatant interference,’ one wrote on X.
‘Ban the trainer for 12 months, fine Penrith, and dock them the two competition points. Absolutely pathetic sportsmanship and it’s not the first time they’ve done it. Send a clear message that it won’t be tolerated,’ another added.
‘Whatever happens here, the Titans have been absolutely dudded. Fox will wax lyrical about Cleary, but Campbell should have had a conversion attempt from in front,’ a third said.
‘Great kick by Cleary but Penrith trainer running across the conversion line like he did negates anything from this game. He knew what he was doing, no excuses,’ added another.
Asked about the incident after the match, Hasler said, ‘Did it cost us the game? I don’t know.
‘He will get breached. That’s the only thing that’s going to come out of it.’
Penrith coach Ivan Cleary insisted that Bocking’s actions were not deliberate.
‘He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We had a sub and I changed it at the last minute,’ he said.
Campbell (pictured) missed the conversion to leave his side leading 26-24 with four minutes on the clock – with those two possible points later proving crucial
Titans coach Des Hasler said he expects the NRL to punish Bocking (pictured) for his actions
Nathan Cleary (top) celebrates with Blaze Talagi (back to camera) after he scored the winning try in golden-point extra time
‘He was trying to communicate with the bench for a late change. It was an honest mistake. He apologised straight away.’
Another Penrith trainer was caught in an underhanded act earlier this year.
Shane Elford was busted wetting the football in Penrith’s 30-all draw with North Queensland in May, in an attempt to make the ball harder to handle for the opposition just before the Panthers kicked off.
A video taken by a fan showed Elford pouring water from a bottle onto the Steeden seconds before Dylan Edwards put boot to ball.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten said his coaching staff had spotted the trainer doing the same thing throughout the contest.
‘He did it before every kick-off,’ Payten said.
The win over the Titans gave the Panthers an eighth consecutive victory to leave the four-time defending premiers on 29 competition points, just one behind the fourth-placed Warriors.
In an ominous omen, Penrith have made the grand final on all five occasions (2003 and 2020-2024) they have previously won eight in a row.
They were cruising at halftime but Gold Coast had other ideas.
Brimson sent centre Brian Kelly in before Campbell intercepted a Cleary pass to race 90m and get the 16th-placed Titans on the board.
Campbell was at it again to step and weave his way through and hooker Sam Verrills dived over from dummy-half. Minutes later Phil Sami finished off a Brimson bust and the lead had been cut to two.
Sami was in again after Penrith muffed a Kieran Foran bomb and Gold Coast led with six minutes to play.
‘I thought they showed a lot of character,’ Hasler said.
‘We got back to 26-24 and it is probably fair to say we deserved to win but great players come up with clutch moments.’
