Too late to say you’re sorry: NRL admits wrong call that sunk Broncos
Brisbane star Pat Carrigan has avoided suspension for a tackle that saw him sin-binned at a crucial stage in his side’s loss to Melbourne.
Patrick Carrigan of the Brisbane Broncos during the NRL Round 14 match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Canberra Raiders. (AAP Image/Pat Hoelscher)
Carrigan was sent to the bin after the bunker deemed his tackle on Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona was a hip-drop in Thursday night’s 24-16 defeat.
But the NRL’s judiciary disagreed and didn’t charge the Broncos forward on Friday morning, leaving him free to face Penrith next round and remain eligible to play for Queensland in the State of Origin series opener.
If he had been slapped with a grade-two charge, Carrigan would have been offered a two-game ban with an early plea ruling him out of game one.
His tackle on Asofa-Solomona seemed innocent with the lock appearing to be sliding down the Storm prop’s legs with his feet never leaving the ground.
The judiciary’s call is bound to leave Broncos fans fuming after the bunker’s call to sin-bin him in the 55th minute.
Brisbane were trailing 12-10 at the time before Melbourne’s Justin Olam scored a try with the one-man advantage.
Both coaches didn’t think it was a hip-drop tackle with Brisbane boss Kevin Walter suggesting the NRL needs to address the issue.
“You wouldn’t like to see it happen in a grand final, someone get sin-binned for that,” he said.
“He slid down his legs … the NRL want you to slide down the legs and Patty did that,” Walters said.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy backed Walters when asked about the hip-drop tackle, a talking point this season.
“I think they are very inconsistent with it,” Bellamy said. “Patrick was very unlucky to go to the sin bin.
“I am thinking along the lines that Kevvie’s (Walters) thinking, it was a tough decision to send him to the sin bin.”
Last month the Australian Rugby League Commission asked the NRL to provide more clarity to coaches on what a hip-drop tackle constitutes after a spate of controversial suspensions and sin bins.
Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh was the only player charged from the Thursday night game, but he’s been offered a $1500 fine for a shoulder charge on Olam.
Melbourne fans might feel hard done by that call given Walsh’s charge was not penalised by either the on-field official or the bunker and prevented Olam from scoring a try.
