Roosters skipper James Tedesco has called for security to be more vigilant after a pitch invader made contact with St George Illawarra star Zac Lomax.
A shirtless spectator made his way onto Allianz Stadium in the 76th minute before eventually being escorted from the arena. However, eyebrows were raised about how long it took for four security personnel to respond, given the intruder had enough time to saunter over to the Dragons centre and put his arm around him.
The intruder, who appeared unarmed, left without offering any resistance. Tedesco didn’t witness the incident but said every effort had to be made to protect the players.
“It’s very dangerous, who knows what the invader could have on them, or attack a player,” Tedesco said.
“It’s a bit scary, security obviously need to be better there and not allow pitch invaders to get in contact with any players.”
Dragons captain Ben Hunt added: “I guess it’s a concern if someone can get to a player and tackle them or something like that.
A pitch invader is taken off the field during the Anzac Day clash.Credit: Getty
“I guess it’s dangerous, but what do you do? You can’t put a thousand security [guards] around the fence. You’ve just got to be aware of it when they are coming on, I guess.”
Thankfully, the incident didn’t affect an enthralling encounter which was only settled when man-of-the-match Luke Keary nailed a field goal to break the deadlock.
“I was really proud of the performance,” Dragons coach Anthony Griffin said.
“The courage they showed, the commitment they showed, there were no losers in that department. It’s just a cruel game for us at the moment, we’re just struggling to close games out when we are in a position to.
“We just have to stare that in the face and get better. When we do, we will win a lot of games.”
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