Newcastle Knights star Sandon Smith suffered a “never before seen” moment while taking a conversion against the Canberra Raiders.
Justin Holbrook’s men came into the NRL clash looking for a fourth victory in five games at the start of the 2026 season.
But they were not very quick out of the blocks on Sunday afternoon as the Raiders took the lead through a Simi Sasagi try.
The Knights eventually scored their first of the game in the 29th minute through Greg Marzhew, but still trailed 6-4 when Smith stepped up for the conversion.
What happened next was unfortunate for the 23-year-old as he was forced into a second attempt at the kick.
Smith composed himself and strode towards the ball, but just as he was about to make contact it fell off the kicking tee.
Thinking quickly, Smith dummied the ball and allowed it to drop in between his legs — avoiding touching it as that would have been classed as an attempt.
And the commentator said: “Oh, he’s pulled out of it. He was well and truly coming down from his backswing.
“That was a peculiar moment. I don’t think I’ve seen that before. That’s got to put you off, hasn’t it?”
It did appear to have an impact on Smith — who then proceeded to shank the kick well wide of the posts.
But ultimately it did not matter to the result as the Knights stormed to a 32-12 win over the Raiders.
Canberra lost Sav Tamale to the sin bin three minutes into the second half for a professional foul on Dom Young.
And the Knights made the man advantage pay as they ran in four more tries to move up to second in the table.
Meanwhile, the Raiders are languishing down in 16th — above only the Dragons.
