Cronulla Sharks great Paul Gallen has accused players of “laying down for penalties” after Jayden Brailey was put on report for a questionable crusher tackle on Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
The seemingly innocuous challenge came midway through the first half of the Knights’ 15-14 win over the Titans, as Mitchell Pearce booted his troops into the post-season seconds before the final siren.
Brailey appeared to come down somewhat awkwardly on Fa’asuamaleaui who had turned his back in the tackle.
It led Gallen to brand the modern interpretation of the crusher tackle as “the biggest blight” on the game, as Newcastle now face the prospect of potentially contesting part of the post-season without Brailey.
“It’s the biggest blight on the game at the moment, the crusher tackle,” Gallen said.
“That’s not a crusher tackle. We all know what the crusher tackle was, when you get them in the back, hold them, pick them up and drop your weight on the back of their neck. That’s what a crusher tackle was. These are not crusher tackle.
“I agree with Gus Gould. Blow the Bunker up. Now, Gus says a lot of things about blowing the bunker up, a lot of things he doesn’t know these days about the rules. But that is one thing that should be blown up.
“They are not crusher tackles. They are just not. They are part of the game. It just happens in a tackle. What else can they do?
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“No one even knew what happened in that tackle. The problem these days is, as soon as there is any pressure on the neck, players are laying down. Years ago, we used to blow up our players for laying down. I remember I lay down for a penalty one day, I got hammered about it for three weeks. Hammered.
“Now everyone’s just laying down to get a penalty and it’s like ‘play on’.”
Eighth Immortal Andrew Johns Was equally unimpressed with a string of recent interpretations of the crusher tackle.
“A fortnight ago, Angus Crichton got three weeks for something very similar,” Johns said.
“Then, last week South Sydney’s Keaon Koloamatangi got two weeks. That’s not even a penalty. The Angus Crichton one I didn’t think was a penalty, and Koloamatangi’s I didn’t think that was a penalty.”
Fa’asuamaleaui was taken for HIA but returned after passing the assessment.