Footy star lands in hot water over controversial act as Canterbury put 20 points past the Knights to stay top of the NRL ladder
Newcastle Knights star Phoenix Crossland was sent to the sin bin during Sunday’s match against Canterbury for a bizarre trip on Bulldog’s halfback Toby Sexton.
Canterbury are enjoying their best start to an NRL season in over 30 years after cruising past a depleted Newcastle outfit to claim a 20-0 win.
Second-half tries from Josh Curran, Jack Todd and Kurt Mann got the Bulldogs home at Accor Stadium on Sunday where an impressive crowd of 24,113 was on hand to witness the ‘Dogs go 5-0 to start the season.
Not since 1993, a year in which they won the minor premiership, have Canterbury started a season so strongly.
But there was more misery for the Knights, who, despite their strong start to the 2025 campaign, are winless in their last two games.
Crossland, meanwhile, could be facing further sanction after he appeared to trip up Sexton.
Bulldogs star Phoenix Crossland was sent to the sin-bin for attempting to trip up Canterbury halfback Toby Sexton
,The incident took place in the 45th minute of the match with Crossland poking his leg out in a bid to halt the advancing Sexton.
The incident took place in the 45th minute of the match with Crossland poking his leg out in a bid to halt the advancing Sexton.
Referee Ashley Klein immediately clocked on to the infringement and showed Crossland his marching orders while also placing him on report.
‘You cannot argue with that,’ Cooper Cronk told Fox League.
‘That is a blatant trip and Adam O’Brien knows it. Good call there from Ashley Klein.’
Toby Rudolf of the Sharks was notably handed a one-match ban at the end of the 2024 season.
It came after he had appeared to trip Penrith captain Isaah Yeo in their preliminary finals clash last year. He had been charged with Grade 2 Dangerous Contact for a trip in the seventh minute of that clash after having submitted an early plea.
Canterbury, clear at the top of the table by two points, will enjoy a bye ahead of a bumper Good Friday clash with South Sydney in which five-eighth Matt Burton and barnstorming back-rower Viliame Kikau are both expected to return.
Many would have expected the Bulldogs to endure a dip when Burton and Kikau limped out of their round two clash with Gold Coast, but it is to their credit that they have barely missed a beat.
A second-half try from Jack Todd (right) helped the Bulldogs get over the line on Sunday
Kurt Mann also crossed the whitewash to help Canterbury retain their unbeaten start to the season
It didn’t help Newcastle’s hopes of ending Canterbury’s unbeaten start that they lost two men inside the opening two minutes.
Winger James Schiller failed a head injury assessment after a head clash with Bulldogs front-rower Daniel Suluka-Fifita before Knights prop Jacob Saifiti limped off 30 seconds later with a suspected calf injury.
It left Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien with just 15 fit bodies to see out the next 78 minutes.
But what they lacked in fluidity they made up for in spirit and effort with Bradman Best leading the charge in a back-and-forth battle with Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton.
There was a collective gasp when Crichton lay down for treatment for a shoulder injury midway through the first half but after a lengthy delay the Bulldogs skipper was back on his feet.
Crichton’s fourth-minute penalty goal – the result of an illegal Tyson Frizell strip on Max King – was all that separated the two sides at the interval.
It took until the 42nd minute for Canterbury to find a way through with Jacob Kiraz batting back a Sexton kick, which Curran patted down to finish.
Soon after Newcastle hooker Crossland was sin-binned for a trip, interchange prop Todd grabbed his first NRL try by hitting a short line against a retreating defence.
To add to the Knights’ woes, prop Jack Hetherington succumbed to a shoulder injury and while they hung in the fight, Mann’s 70th-minute barge-over in his 200th NRL game condemned them to defeat.
