NRL head of football Graham Annesley believes Penrith centre Taylan May should have been charged by the match review committee for the tackle that left Broncos star Reece Walsh with a facial fracture.
Walsh will miss 4-6 weeks with the injury and Annesley told reporters during his weekly NRL briefing on Monday that May should have at least copped a fine or suspension for his role in the incident.
May rushed quickly out of the line to make a play, but collected Walsh with what appeared to be an accidental head clash.
That left the Broncos fullback bleeding heavily and unable to return to the game. The centre was placed on report with receiving a penalty, but that was the extent of it.
May wasn’t cited by the match review committee for the incident, but Annesley said that on review, it was the wrong decision.
The only place to watch every game of every round LIVE with no ad-breaks during play is Fox League, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
“The match review committee is an independent process and the NRL plays no part in that,” Annesley prefaced.
“The match review committee reached their conclusion of no further action on the basis that they thought it was an accidental head clash and as such didn’t reach the threshold for a careless or reckless-type action.
“The view of the administration is that we think that it does reach that threshold of careless action at least.
“In our view, there’s an obligation on all defenders to ensure that they play the game with due regard for the safety of other players.
“This particular type of action of coming up and in at speed will often go wrong… and on that basis we believe it should have resulted in a charge.”
Annesley would be asked by a journalist what grading the charge should have been
“We haven’t specifically turned our mind to that because that is the role of the match review committee and they have to look at precedents and they have to closely examine all of the circumstances,” Annesley replied.
“We are firmly of the view that it did reach the bar for a charge. Beyond that, there are all sorts of mitigating and aggravating factors that the match review committee is required to consider in reaching a grading.”
The Walsh-May incident sparked plenty of debate.
While the vast majority agreed the contact from May was accidental, there were a few such as Broncos coach Kevin Walters and NRL great Johnathan Thurston that believe the Panthers flyer needed to show more of a duty of care.
“There was contact to the head which is duty of care,” Walters said a day after the match.
“If the NRL is serious about concussions and protecting players, where does this sit with that?”
Source Agencies
