Ennis has last laugh in NRL classic

Canterbury captain Michael Ennis got a taste of his own medicine on Saturday night, but he still had the last laugh.

Ennis the Menace has made a career out of getting into the face of opponents and letting them know about their mistakes.

Last week he did it to the Australian captain Cameron Smith and was accused of disrespect.

In an extraordinary sequence of events in Canterbury’s thrilling one-point elimination final win over Manly, Ennis made a complete meal of trying to clean up a kick on his own line and gifted a try to Sea Eagles winger Cheyse Blair which evened up the scores with nine minutes remaining.

Justin Horo was on the ground next to Ennis and was the first to pat him on the head and exchange pleasantries.

Then James Hasson ran from a distance to shove Ennis and let him know what it feels like to be belittled on the field.

Canterbury forward Reni Maitua was sin-binned defending Ennis’s honour when he punched Hasson in retaliation.

But as league legend Peter Sterling observed in commentary, Ennis had no one to blame but himself.

If he hadn’t made such a habit of baiting opponents, Manly players wouldn’t have felt so compelled to rub salt into his wounds.

Maitua’s brain-snap was a by-product of Ennis’s weekly tactics.

When Trent Hodkinson put Canterbury ahead by one, Ennis was off the hook.

Then Daly Cherry-Evans sent the game into golden point and Ennis’s head went down again.

But with a minute and a half left in the first half of extra time, Hodkinson kicked a second field goal, and Ennis, the game’s greatest niggler, breathed his biggest sigh of relief.

“I thought I’d bombed it. I thought I’d bombed it,” said Ennis to Channel Nine post-match.

Asked about the niggle, Ennis feigned ignorance.

“I don’t even remember. Good game of footy though, good game of footy,” he said.

That it was, and the Bulldogs live to fight another day, but Ennis might have learned a lesson.

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