NRL fans have taken to social media to express their anger over the incident.
Angry NRL fans have claimed Wests Tigers forward Alex Twal should have been sanctioned over a ‘third man in’ tackle that resulted in an injury to Titans star Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. The Gold Coast captain had to come from the field in the first half of his side’s heartbreaking 21-20 loss to the Tigers on Sunday, who snatched victory with a last-minute Adam Doueihi field goal.
The loss piles more pressure on Titans coach Des Hasler, who is staring down the barrel of the first wooden spoon of his career, with Gold Coast rooted to the bottom of the ladder with just seven games left in the season. The situation is even more grim after Gold Coast’s captain was forced from the field with a knee injury in the first half, following a controversial incident that left some fans fuming.
Fa’asuamaleaui was wrapped up in a tackle from Tigers duo Doueihi and Terrell May just metres away from the opposition tryline when Twal came in as the third man and tackled the Titans skipper around the legs. The initial contact from the Tigers forward was around the waist but the force of the tackle caused Tino’s knee to twist awkwardly and he was in obvious discomfort right away.
Tino initially tried to play on but was ultimately subbed off a short time later. Despite remaining active on the sidelines after he came off, the Gold Coast skipper took no further part in the game and is set for scans to determine the severity of the knee injury. Twal wasn’t penalised for the tackle and he escaped punishment from the NRL after the Match Review Commitee handed down its findings on Monday.
Fortunately, it was the opposite knee to the one Tino had to have operated on after suffering a season-ending ACL injury last season. But the incident sparked fresh backlash around the rugby league world as more fans call for a referee crackdown on third man in or cannonball tackles that target an opposition player’s legs.
Fresh calls for NRL to crack down on ‘third man in’ tackles
Andrew Johns fumed about one from North Queensland’s Karl Lawton that resulted in an injury to Roosters forward Siua Wong last month. “It was a cheap shot,” Johns said at the time. “This isn’t a shot at the Cowboys or Karl Lawton, because everyone does it and everyone trains to do it. Every club does it… I absolutely hate it. This has got to stop.”
Just like the Lawton incident last month, Twal was not penalised for the tackle on Tino after the Bunker ruled that the contact with his shoulder was above the Gold Coast forward’s knee. But it doesn’t make the tackle much less dangerous or reduce the risk of injury to the ball-carrier.
And many fans suggested Twal should be suspended for the incident amid fresh calls for the NRL to crack down on third man in tackles. “How was the tackler not sent off,” one fan wrote. “NRL need to suspend player’s who do do it.”
Roosters halfback Sam Walker was sin-binned for a similar incident against the Dragons when he dived in at the legs of David Klemmer. However he escaped a charge from the match-review committee.
Des Hasler fuming after Titans’ loss to Tigers
Hasler refused to weigh in on the incident after the game or blame his side’s latest defeat ‘entirely’ on the officials after admitting the Titans played “dumb” footy to surrender a 20-16 lead with four minutes remaining. “It’s really disappointing that in the second half we fumble, we bumble, we miss tackles, we throw balls over the sideline, we get carried over the sideline and we complete 9 from 15 sets,” the former premiership-winning coach said.
“I’m really disappointed in that performance. It was really dumb. We didn’t need luck. There was a scrum penalty and three knock-ons that the referee missed, but I’m not going to blame the loss entirely on the referee’s performance. We didn’t help ourselves.”
The under-fire coach’s frustrations with his players was evident in an epic post-match spray in the change rooms that was captured on camera and quickly circulated online. Hasler looked furious in the footage and could be seen calling back players from the showers to continue delivering what one can only imagine was an almighty serve from the veteran coach.
