Cronulla prop Luke Douglas has revealed for the first time the pain he felt after copping abuse from irate Manly fans after being wrongly sent off in the Sharks' controversial loss to the Sea Eagles last year.
The tireless front-rower was dismissed by rookie referee Phil Haines for an innocuous high shot on Manly's Chris Bailey after just 27 minutes.
Courageously, the Sharks battled on with 12 men to lead with two minutes to go before a contentious Ben Farrar try delivered the home side an undeserved 18-16 win.
Referees boss Robert Finch took the extraordinary step of admitting Haines was incorrect in sending Douglas off and dropped the whistleblower from the NRL.
As he prepares to head back to the northern beaches on Sunday for the first time since that fateful day, Douglas admits the serve he copped from the parochial Brookvale Oval faithful as he left the field has stayed with him for eight months
"I was disappointed and upset. I copped a fair bit from the crowd that I didn't think I deserved," Douglas told Sportal on Wednesday.
"They were spraying me, they were really giving it to me."
"I know they are passionate fans for their club (and) when you get sent off you cop a heckling from the crowd, but what people were yelling out was a bit over the top."
Asked his recollection of the game, Douglas responded: "The team was awesome that day, they played bloody well with 12 men. To just lose it on the bell was disappointing."
"It was a shame I wasn't out there to help them."
But he plays down any talk of payback against a Manly side hitting form after a shaky start to the season.
"Revenge isn't on my mind. I didn't play well (in the win) against Parramatta on the weekend so I'm just out to rectify that and hopefully get another win for the team and get us on a roll," Douglas said.
"We can't relax because we've won one game – we've got to back it up and that's what I will be out to do."
But Farrar, who struck the fatal blow last year, believes the Sharks will come to Brookie seeking redemption.
"I remember at the time we were just happy to get the win ... we're definitely expecting a tough game and they'll come out firing for sure," he said.
"If they're still pretty fired up I suppose you've got to cop it."