Raiders fall short in thriller as Ricky blasts GIO facilities

The Canberra Raiders have fallen 14-10 to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in a gritty, rain-soaked clash in the nation’s capital, but the post-match focus quickly shifted to a bizarre incident involving shattered glass in the coach’s box.

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo was left needing stitches after a window broke as he attempted to open it during the match, prompting a frustrated response from Raiders coach Ricky Stuart when informed of the situation in his press conference.

Rather than dwell on the specifics of the incident, Stuart used it to highlight broader concerns around the state of the stadium facilities.

“I came into the change room and I thought it was raining in there,” Stuart said.

“There’s no good whinging about it because the people you’ve got to whinge to don’t give a s***

“The people that make decisions about our stadium don’t care about the stadium. They don’t care about the nation’s capital having the stadium that we have.

“That’s why I don’t whinge about it. We just make up and do what we’ve got to do beacuse they don't care. It's hard whinging to a person who doesn't care about the actual outcome of it.

Ciraldo confirmed the incident occurred during a chaotic late-game period, with visibility already an issue from the coach’s box.

“It was quite foggy, so we couldn’t see what was happening,” Ciraldo said. “We tried to open the window and the whole window smashed on us… glass all over us.

“I’ll go get stitches now.”

The incident capped a dramatic night both on and off the field.

Canberra had threatened to steal the result late after Savelio Tamale crossed for his second try in the 74th minute, before Ethan Sanders sparked a final surge with a line break that fell short by a metre.