No love lost between Raiders teammates

Papua New Guinea forward Neville Costigan has little sympathy for Australian utility Terry Campese, despite possibly ending his Canberra Raiders teammate’s World Cup campaign last night.

Costigan faces a one-match ban after being charged with a careless high tackle for the incident in the 16th minute of Australia’s 46-6 victory in Townsville which left Campese with a bleeding eye and blurred vision.

It brought a swift end to Campese’s international debut and has left him fighting to retain a place in the side for the rest of the tournament, with just the semi-finals and an expected finals appearance to come.

Campese has been cleared of serious injury, but even if he recovers in time for Sunday’s second semi-final, he could struggle to get back into the team after fellow utility Scott Prince came on and starred against the Kumuls last night.

Asked at Sydney Airport today if he was feeling for his Raiders teammate, Costigan said: “Not really. It’s just part of the game.

“One of the reporters came in last night and said Campese had to go to hospital and I didn’t think anything about it, I didn’t know if I’d done anything to him.

“But this morning (I was told) I went in to a tackle and hurt him.

“I feel a bit bad but it’s part of the game.”

Campese wore sunglasses that hid the injury and swiftly departed the airport without speaking to reporters.

He has some swelling around the eye and will continue to be monitored by team officials.

Costigan said he was sitting next to Campese on the flight from Townsville, but “didn’t see him”.

“We were on the same flight, I was sitting right next to him actually, but I didn’t see him,” he said.

“He left pretty quick, he might be a bit dirty, but oh well, that’s the way it goes.

“I got no hard feelings against him, I don’t know if he’s got anything against me, but I was just playing footy.”

Costigan’s PNG teammate Jason Chan has been cautioned by the match review committee after being charged with contrary conduct for unnecessary contact to the head/neck of Steve Price in the 48th minute of the match.

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