Freddy, Slater disagree over Walsh hair pull sin-binning
Brad Fittler believes it was the right call to send Reece Walsh to the sin bin for a hair pull in Brisbane’s 30-6 loss to Newcastle on Saturday night – but Billy Slater disagrees.
The Broncos superstar was sin-binned in the 25th minute of the Suncorp Stadium clash for storming into a melee and pulling the dreadlocks of Knights winger Dom Young.
Reece Walsh pulling Dom Young’s hair. Nine.
On Sunday morning, the NRL handed Walsh a $1000 fine.
Asked by host Danika Mason on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show if it warranted a sin-binning, Fittler said it “absolutely” did.
“He went into a melee and pulled a bloke’s hair. That’s a sin bin. You can’t do that,” the Panthers and Roosters legend said.
Andrew Johns sat on the panel chuckling.
“If he grabs him anywhere else it’s a medical emergency,” the eighth Immortal laughed.
Two players were sin-binned after the melee: Walsh and Newcastle back-rower Jermaine McEwen, who rushed in and targeted Deine Mariner.
McEwen grabbed the Broncos centre by the scruff of his neck and flung him backwards.
Slater shook his head as he reacted to the sin-binning of Walsh.
“If that’s a grand final are we sin-binning two players? No chance,” said Slater, who coaches Walsh in the Queensland State of Origin set-up.
“Penalty maybe. That’s a big sin bin. It was one from either so that kind of married it up, but c’mon.”
Walsh tried to plead with referee Grant Atkins but it fell on deaf ears.
“I don’t know what he was thinking. He thought he’d get away with something cheeky ... It was a bit of a brain snap,” Jared Waerea-Hargreaves said on Fox League.
Retiring captain Adam Reynolds suffered a concussion as the Broncos’ dreadful title defence went from bad to worse in Saturday night’s game.
The reigning premiers fell out of finals contention last weekend, but were hoping to send Reynolds out on a high towards the back end of the season.
However, in a major blow only six minutes in, the champion halfback was floored by a rampaging Greg Marzhew that saw Reynolds stumble before being taken off.
The 36-year-old was deemed to be showing category one symptoms, prematurely ending his night, with Ben Hunt replacing him.
“He had trouble getting back to his feet, that’s a heavy hit,” Greg Alexander said on Fox League.
To make matters worse, Mariner was sin-binned for a professional foul just moments after Reynolds was taken from the field for a HIA.
The Broncos also lost gun forward Xavier Willison to a knee injury in the opening minutes of the game.
