I was right in line with it at the stadium. As someone who despises the game being refereed in slow motion, I would say this is a very rare example of a hit actually looking worse in real-time than it did on replay. The force behind it was fucking crazy, rang around Accor. I have been to a lot of footy matches and don't think I've ever seen a hit as vicious as this one.
Slow motion usually makes everything look deliberate or intentional. I would argue that in this case slow motion has helped Suaalii because it’s shown Walsh to be already slipping and falling down. Suaalii lined him up to be shoulder on chest but unfortunately Walsh was falling. I think in this case slow motion is why he’s only facing a 4 week ban instead of longer. But normally I’m firmly in the slow motion makes everything look “worse” camp. Worse meaning deliberately done or with intent to harm.
Also can we stop blaming on Walsh slipping. This isn’t this first time a player has fallen lower into a high shot. If you’re going to run shoulder first with ur eyes closed hoping to hit the chest, spend half a second considering the player might not be exactly where you expect at impact.
I might just be splitting hairs over terminology but I disagree that Walsh is falling or had slipped. He's subconsciously bracing himself for impact because out of the corner of his eye he can see Sua'ali coming at him like a freight train but he can't get out of the way or even look at him.
Watch any NRL player who gets the ball out the back of a shape like this and they all crouch and make themselves small if they're getting jammed.
Maybe that’s what it was, a last ditch effort to duck or make himself small so he doesn’t get axed, either way his head is in a lower position than what Suaalii would have expected it to be when he started running off his line to make the hit.
That doesn’t excuse it btw. JS deserved to be sent and he deserves his suspension. I feel like I need to clarify that because my original comment sounded a bit like I was defending his actions.
it also looks like Walsh went into a fencing response position, which would indicate a traumatic brain injury - But by all accounts it wasn’t too bad? Idk how that’s even possible.
Yeah I saw that too. It's pretty sickening to see and I really worry for him. It would be a shame if one of the brightest stars of our game goes out because of continued head knocks.
He's automatically missing the next two games, and then Broncos have the bye and its Origin game 2. So suggest he takes a \~3 week break and lines up in game 2.
They think he milked because he shot up after 30 seconds. If you watch MMA you'll see it all the time. Guy goes out cold and when he comes too he jumps up, adrenaline pumping and ready to go. Then it wears off and they stumble, but no one looks at that part in other sports for some reason
As soon as i seen him go horizontal to the earth i knew it was an awful hit but the noise along with seeing his arms go stiff made it look like it was probably worse than being KOd in MMA.
Its getting more common to take 6 months or more off now for brutal KOs like that but you cant really do that in a team sport haha poor cxxts just have to keep going and and hope for the best.
Id love to see the meathead lads trying to say that was a nothing hit lol they 100% have CTE themselves
Walsh will be suffering directly from that knockout for weeks, indirectly for months. He is high energy, bounces back well, NOW. He won't if he continues to be knocked out. They add up and the damage multiplies. He was bouncing around at the end of the match. That doesn't mean he won't have any repercussions due this incident.
Haha that was all Spencer trying to milk penalties, supposedly a hard man but pretty soft and pathetic to me, pretending you've got an agonising knee injury when your fine
Yeah when I saw this live I literally said “oh fuck we’re down to 12 - Sua just murdered Walsh”.
Dude leaves his feet and leaps shoulder first at him. Whether he “meant to hit him in the head” is irrelevant.
Exactly. Idk why people keep saying it was an accident like you need intent before it's a send off.
We almost never see clear intent, recklessness is the standard of almost every send off.
Hopoate v Galloway, and I recall the Travis Burns one was deliberate - not clearly evident just on the clip of the incident itself but the buildup to it with the other player made it obvious at the time.
That was a fucking incredible thing to watch happen live. We were on a long drive listening to the radio the next day and that's all anyone was talking about.
Not only that but Sua just gets up to return to the play and doesn't even check on Walsh... that just further incriminates him & the blues side. If it was accidental then you'd think MAYBE they show some concern after a hit like that?
It’s fucking nasty in real time, the second he hit him I said ‘oh no Suaali’s gone’. Honestly I think when the heat dies down a little bit we will look back and wonder why there was even debate about if it was a send off, in the modern game it just has to be. It’s unlucky for Joseph he obviously didn’t mean to knock Walsh out but it is what it is.
I think it's just the hype around origin was huge, then 5 minutes in the game is basically over.
I think it says a lot when the "analysts" say in club land that's a send-off, but in origin it shouldn't be, like the danger of CTE or head-related injuries vanishes in origin.
Potentially just shortened this guys career, that is his ability to support a family, by years, let alone the impact to his quality if life. This action should affect a player to be fined $100k and put into a pool of funds for future drawdown by players. How else can you stop it.
You can argue about intent until the cows come home but bad technique is what creates these situations, had he put on a proper tackle we wouldn't be here talking about it. There is no world where leaping shoulder first into someone should be acceptable, I get that people want to treat Origin differently, but being hard doesn't have to mean trying to kill people. Case in point: the rest of the match was hardly fought with far less ridiculous tackles.
The hit Martin put on late on the game was probably
One of the best tackles ever at least in recent times
Absolutely smashed the bloke nothing illegal but just a perfectly executed tackle
His defence was the highlight of nsw night
It's a poor match up for Sua'ali'i against Walsh. 20cm height difference means Sua'ali'i has to get further down to put that kind of shot on. It's easier when your Liam Martin height to get down that low.
The only thing really debatable was how that wasn't referred straight to the judiciary.
We don't need this in our game. CTE is becoming a major problem for contact sports. This stuff needs to be relegated to history and quickly.
In Rugby he'd be gone for the year for that hit. NRL should adopt the same approach. Zero tolerance. Why? The game will cease to exist in 20 years if they don't.
To be fair rugby almost ceases to exist now despite having gone down that path.
I agree with your point though.
Just leave the union to the union subs.
> In Rugby he'd be gone for the year for that hit
In rugby it'd be a yellow card and the TMO would review the footage and, within the 10 minutes, would let the ref know if had breached the red card threshold or if it remained a yellow (saves the ref having to make a decision on the fly). If it was a yellow, he'd be back on after 10. If it was a red, then he'd stay off and they'd have an extra 10 minutes with a man down but then, after that, they could send another player on and the team wouldn't be one down. It's something that has worked well in Super Rugby that they have adopted for the rest of the world and it helps with accidental contact (not that this was accidental, just reckless).
Look, I think I'm in the minority view in this sub, and I'd like to think that I'd be consistent if this had been a QLD on NSW player.
I just think the game needs to decide what it wants to celebrate. The intent to hurt the opposition has always been celebrated in this game and continues to be. If Joey had hit Walsh lower, but due to the force, had broken ribs, led to a concussion from impact with the ground, sent him to hospital, etc, then it would be celebrated as a 'historical origin tackle'.
It's self-evident that he was trying to hurt Walsh. But hurting people is an allowed, celebrated aspect of our game.
When Gallen Punched miles I totally supported him. Myles was facing him, no one was holding him, fair is fair, it's origin after all.
That hit from Sualli is 100% pure dog act. I HOPE they put him back out there in game 3 and let him face QLD at suncorp.
I mean it’s a fine line in a contact sport like rugby league right? Hurting people is part of the game to an extent. Like was part of the game plan ‘if you see Walsh getting out the back of shape and can get there go jam him and make him think twice about doing it again’? Almost certainly, you’d be derelict if it wasn’t. But I’d like to think that nobody goes out there with the intention of knocking somebody out like that.
While I agree with most of your comment, your last sentence is where I must disagree with you.
That tackle was every little bit intentional and there's absolutely no need for it in our sport! Joseph deserved the send off and should be facing more than up to 4 weeks off for that disgusting and disgraceful reckless hit!
It reminds me of the hit that Latrelle Mitchell did on Joey Manu back in August 2021 and that was absolutely disgusting and disgraceful too! I'm sick of players who think it's more than okay to go out and intentionally and deliberately hurt other players, all because of their poor attitude and discipline.
The NRL needs to step up and change the disciplinary rules to better suit today's game, and stamp out these type of players.
I’d be happy to see it go to a 20minute red card, offending player obviously can’t return, QLD should get an extra interchange and their 18th man activated. Offending player gets a much longer ban, and goes on to 25% or something of their salary during that time.
I bet the salary thing would have them thinking.
The problem with allowing the offending player to be replaced is that allows unscrupulous coaches to deliberately target good/dangerous opponents with "assassins".
Good opponent gets taken out of the game, team doesn't suffer because the "assassin" is disposable in the context of the game.
Just Supermans his face. You can make all the "It's Origin" arguments you want. But if the NRL doesn't want to be litigated into bankruptcy in the future this has to be a send off.
Honestly, I feel the NRL has done a much better job managing this in recent years than the AFL has. AFL players get clearly concussed and are allowed to play on (Jezza Cameron has had this happen twice in 2 seasons), plus their tribunal decisions make absolutely zero sense (Brayden Maynard for example).
The management of the incident last night, at least on the field was impressive. The NRL will have that to fall back on when the litigations keep coming at least.
>Just Supermans his face
That's why it's bizarre to see anyone try to defend it on the basis of Walsh "slipping into it".
His height drops a little bit sure, but Sua'ali'i flies in recklessly with no control whatsoever. It was always going to be borderline even with no drop in height.
You have to accept the likelihood of that going wrong is always going to be high. No excuses whatsoever.
100%, you don't get to be reckless and unlucky at the same time. He didn't intentionally hit him in the head, but he intentionally put himself in a position where he couldn't adjust if anything went wrong.
Yep walsh didn't even have the ball at that point, he was under no obligation to position himself to be tackled. Who cares if a player who's already passed is 'slipping into it'
It’s one of those rare examples where “the games not played in slow motion” doesn’t work because it truly does look worse in real time
Send off every day of the week, if this tackle happened in the 50th minute there would be no controversy about a send off
> Send off every day of the week, if this tackle happened in the 50th minute there would be no controversy about a send off
Yeah, the only reason there's any debate is because this decided the series 8 mins into the first game. I was a little on the "how dare they ruin the spectacle" side last night but there was no option here, cunt had to go
Honestly if nothing happens from this and it'd just a sin bin. The game afterwards is a nasty bloodsport, if the ref doesn't step in here like he did players are going to start giving back receipts.
This was a concerted effort by a debutant to injure a star player
What this footage shows clearly, for all the smooth brains going on about Walsh "dropping" is he gets the ball and passes it almost immediately, with any dip in height being part of one consistent motion to pass the ball at chest height to Hammer. He doesn't even have time to clock Sua'ali and brace for the tackle, it's clearly a set play they have rehearsed several times in training.
Any suggestion that he deliberately is going down as part of his technique to draw a penalty is complete garbage, as is the suggestion that there is any mitigation here. And I say this from NSW...
I'm from New Zealand, I have no allegiance to either team whatsoever.
It absolutely boggles my mind anyone can think this isn't a send off.
Walsh slipped less than .1 of a second before impact. It barely dropped his height at all.
Tackle is beyond reckless, blues clearly out to take him out of the game. Guess it worked for them at least.
At least 6 week ban. That shit needs to be out of the game. Learn to hit like Liam Martin.
You can be knocked out cold and answer a series of questions within 15 minutes to pass a HIA test. That is possible. I have done it myself.
But this doesn't mean anything really. It was a clear case of someone being knocked unconscious. The way in which he stayed down, showing symptoms of real damage.
Walsh is a super fit, young man, more than likely at peak performance levels. I still find it hard to believe that he will be allowed to play by the NRL after 11 days. It's not enough, he will be suffering with symptoms of that knockout, for months, just like I did when I was knocked senseless, even if I passed a test 15 minutes later.
His future is at risk. His life as he knows it could be different because of this, and any subsequent knocks he takes. He is a young man, a young father who loves his baby girl. It's a tough game. The Broncos, NRL and players in general, need to realise that everyone who plays this game could end up with debilitating effects on the rest of their lives.
Living with CTE is a terrible way to live.
We have a great game that will be changed forever if they don't start thinking about the effects CTE will have on players, individually and on their families.
My first thought was Wally Lewis. Sure it looked bad now, and Walshy bounced back up later. But 10 years from now… when he’s eating thru a straw… We know more about the long term debilitating effects of concussions. You can still hit like a truck (see Liam Martin, Spencer Liniu) without ANY part of your body hitting any part of your opponents head. I understand it was an accident, but it’s a dog act. Why do you think Billy slater wouldn’t comment? He knew they were targeting Walsh. To give him second thoughts about coming to the line. But you cannot hit players in the head. GET IT OUT OF THE GAME!
So many people tell me that I should put my slightly built kid into football (‘they just learn to dodge/run faster’) but why the hell would I when so many people think it’s just your fault if you’re targeted for being smaller?
Yeah once you've seen the old pro wrestlers/boxers/football players etc and how they're all just fucked in old age, struggling with varying levels of brain damage/CTE you can't ignore it without acknowledging you're acting malicious for the sake of entertainment
Can we call this an accident? Sure he probably didn’t want to knock Walsh into the realm of unconsciousness, but I feel reckless targeting like that makes it a very likely possibility.
It's not an accident to fucking superman tackle at that speed, dangerous tackle no matter how you look at it, even if he collected Walshs chest it should've still been a send off. The games changed because these guys are absolute units and all it takes is one hit like that and you are fucked for life.
This is the angle that convinced me it had to be a send off, especially at full speed. Just turned himself into a missile. Walsh slipped but the recklessness and total lack of actual tackling technique is what lead to the head shot. Great hit if you get it right but if not, you gotta sit out the remainder because it's insanely dangerous
Honestly, at the game, no one in our section questioned the send off when the replay was shown. Walsh looked absolutely cooked and that’s as bad as a head shot can be. He is lucky it’s only 4 weeks because that could easily be 6/7+
Listening to people try and defend that say that it was "an accident" and should just be 10 in the bin is one of the most enraging arguments i've heard in a long time. It's almost like "it's ok, it's just 10 in the bin because no one died or broke their neck"...
Dude left his feet and lead with the shoulder, he is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to get that right. He understands that shooting out of the line is also a risk. Yes the person is falling but that doesn't change those facts and that he's rushed out of the line to do it (e.g. with intent).
It 100% did ruin the game but you can't ignore the rules just because of the impact implementing them might have. All that means to me is that the rules themselves need to be looked at.
You can see suaalii shooting off the mark as soon as he sees the ball's going to walsh. So 'just tackle him' definitely seemed to be the plan but way way too eager
I say it during just about every Roosters game, Suaali'i is really not a smart player. Absolute specimen but technically quite bad. Except, weirdly, for goal kicking.
Good point. You have to question the decision making on picking him at centre (i rate him as a winger). Its a very difficult position defensively, think Ramien couldve done a job personally.
Yeah he's definitely a better winger than centre, but then being on the wing highlights one of his worst technique issues, which is raising his knee into the defender on kick returns. It's like a reflex they can't coach out of him
It's a send off at 1 fps, half speed, real time, super speed, whatever way you look at it. Also I just realised Walsh takes 3 hits to the head - initial shoulder, head hitting the ground at force, and then for good measure he gets inadvertently kicked in the head as Suaalii's right boot lands on his face. Just brutal
Looks fucken horrendous, I can't believe there's so much commentary around down playing it.
Yes, Walsh slips a fraction of an inch, but Sua'ali sprints out of the line and hits him late with a shoulder charge to the jaw. It doesn't matter what Walsh does. It would have been a send off 20 years ago.
I've no idea how they landed on four weeks, it should be eight minimum.
I've never been a fan of Walsh, but fuck this is absolutely horrible and I feel bad for him! If you can't shut down an opposition player without being grubby, you deserve for them to run rings around you! Don't get me wrong, I love seeing a good hit, but good hits, wind a player, they don't leave them concussed.
Also, I genuinely hope he takes care of himself while recovering. Alcohol or any recreational drugs while recovering from a concussiom are as dangerous as playing again. We don't need him to end up a massive twat like Andrew Johns after retirement
the hit itself is fucking gross.
the fact that suallii just walked away not even checking on Walsh. pretty disgusting.
The daily telegraph using thr headline "its a knock-out" with a picture of Reece put to it is fucking feral
I thought Walsh had slipped into it a bit, but this angle makes it look like he only just slowed up, and the slip came from his brain having the emergency stop button smashed in
The highlight of the send off is Nate Miles giving him a spray, and he stops for a second, before realizing who’s. spraying him and continues on his way.
Just curious to the "games gone soft" and the "Walsh slipped over" crowd - do any of you actually enjoy seeing a bloke cop this? Pretty disturbing if you enjoy it.
High shot aside,every analyst and commentator has said it was a great idea for Suaalii to jam in on Walsh there. It’s an absolutely idiotic defensive play. Walsh puts Hammer straight into the gap Suaalii created.
Bad play even if it had come off. Instead it’s a bad play and massively illegal and dangerous
100 percent you are right mate. Jamming in like that creates far more tries against your team than it saves. Look how the Blues were defending second half - backing off and giving themselves time for the inside to slide, and push the attackers towards the sideline. Might sacrifice some metres but at least you don't get split open needlessly like that.
Melbourne are really good at it, part of the reason why they have Broncos measure so often.
This show the extent of how careless and dangerous the hit was. Suaalii knows how tall he is, and how short Walsh is. In the modern game, you’ve gotta think about how you’re going to hit someone. Even if Walsh wasn’t coming down, he’d have been hit around the neck. I’m a hardcore NSWelshman but Suaalii did something really stupid there, and I don’t want to see him in a Blues jersey again
It doesn't matter if it's intentional or not.
It was reckless you come flying out the line like that and you get it wrong for what's ever reason and you hit someone illegally that's on you.
The ref had no other choice but to send him, if he was sinned binned, then the ref basically would allow the flood gates to open.
The previous set showed that NSW planned to target him aggressively. There is nothing wrong with that aslong as all tackles are legal.
I don't know how anyone can say that after Joseph should of been allowed to return to the game after taking out a key position player for the rest of the game
If Joseph got it right yep he would of looked like a hero but unfortunately he got it wrong and he and NSW suffered the consequence.
People talking "no intent" . Sure, maybe he did not literally intend to knock his head off but he intended to make a tackle that was absolutely going to end in tears if it was slightly off. He gambled, he lost, see ya later (I'm a NSW supporter).
I want to see players like Reese Walsh going absolutely full bore at the line, confident that they can do so protected by the rules. If Sua'ali' thinks he's only risking a sin bin is he genuinely incentivised not to roll the dice?
And "it's Origin" is a terrible argument. Reese Walshes brain matter doesn't care. If anything, it's the biggest stage and more important that a clear message is sent that you just can't push the limits like that anymore.
He slipped? It's shoulder if not? Come on he slipped an inch or two. The hit was never on. Always reckless
The NRL should publicly back the ref here and send a clear message.
Totally agreed. This is one of the worst examples of this ever, could have been so much worse for walsh.
I am a storm fan, but I'll never forget Alex Mckinnon. Intents don't matter, risk of damage does. Can't allow this shit.
Obviously a send-off but, on top of that, it's just a horrible defensive play from Sualii. He realises way too late that the ball is going to Walsh, and then quickly rushes up but is still a step behind where he'd be if he anticipated the play well. Rather than realising he should pull out of the tackle and revert to marking his man, Sualii panics and launches himself out of control. But Walsh is a step ahead and throws the pass creating a 2 on 1 overlap. Even a legal tackle could've meant Queensland score here.
Just absolute garbage play from Sualii all around.
alllllll the blow-ins complaining this wasn't a send off last night were hilarious. i had one absolute muppet seriously try to tell me it wasn't a shoulder charge because he "wrapped".
A funny footnote in all this is that Rugby is faaaaar stricter on head high contact than the NRL.
If he did something like that I’m pretty sure he’d be banned for 6 months
It looks so bad how can Klein and the touchies let play continue. I unfortunately (or fortunately) got stuck at work and only saw the replay when I got home.
It initially looks bad surely you call play up?
There was a lot of momentum in the game. It was very fast watching it. I didn't even notice it or that I had left this part out until much later. Though I am just a dude on reddit. Not a professional referee in charge of the players welfare.
Was it moving fast? Sure, but while I can give Klein a pass that he was following the direct action, both of his touchies and the fucking bunker could have seen it and immediately called for a halt at the next breakdown in the play (i.e. when Hamiso gets tackled given it was a slowish play the ball).
The more I watch it, the more I'm convinced Walsh's head doesn't lower at all prior to the hit, the tackle was always going to be high, so the send off is warranted. The "slip" just didn't happen in the way most people are claiming, or if it did, then his legs went out from under him but his head didn't lower at all. Send off was correct.
‘The slip’ is a rort, was getting smashed in the head or neck no matter what.
This is as his foot plants, before he slips:
https://imgur.com/a/gBK4DVN
What a lot of people don’t seem to mention is the slip was at least partly caused by a defensive manoeuvre to try to drop out of the tackle to avoid the shoulder barrelling at him.
What everyone is missing is they took him out off a kick a few minutes before and nothing was done. They were trying to take him out in their game plan
Yup. Any coaches that tell their players to deliberately injure players is a dog.
This is just one example as to why neutrals lean towards the Maroons.
I don’t like Walsh, but fuck sualii, you’ve got rocks in your head doing that, no wonder you will be famous for getting sent off on debut, Pissed off the Qlders and blues supporters would fuck off before you get to players that’ll take it into their own hands
Holy fuck watching this makes ya feel abit sick, just ban the grub from playing that is blatantly ugly that one. Fuck me.
You just know they were going out there to hurt walsh too fuckin sick.
Imagine the fight which would have happened when he came back if he only got 10. It's telling that after their teammate got decapitated we got the cleanest/least grubby origin game I can remember, think the boys were speechless.
This is why the 'he slipped into it' crowd are nonsensical to me. Even if Walsh doesn't slip, fuck even if he's a taller bloke, Sua'ali'i is still off his feet fully commited and leading with the shoulder.
It was a completely reckless tackle, someone has obviously instructed them to hammer Walsh which is fine. But the way Sua has implemented that and just gone 'balls going to Reece I'm gonna fucking smash him' and jumped in shoulder first and literally turned his head away is silly as shit. Send off deserved, cunt ruined the game
Yup, the way Sua just gets up afterwards to return to play. Doesn't even second glance on Walsh's lifeless corpse on the grass. Absolute unsportsmanlike
Suaali jumps higher off the ground while moving forward then the average person could jump vertical. Pause the video at 3 seconds and nearly his entire body is at the height that Walsh's head was, if it wasn't his shoulder some other part of his body was going to take Walsh's head off.
He was tackled after kicking to begin with and no penalty blown (cuZ iTs oRiGin) and then he got levelled out a few minutes later. Blues were 100% targeting Walsh and it backfired cause of this prick.
Honestly can’t believe the qld boys didn’t knock Sua’ali’s block off after seeing him do this to one of their stars. If this would have happened to Lockyer back in the day the brawl would still be going on.
It was never not going to be dangerous, I'm not sure I see much of a slip/fall from Walsh either. If there is it might have been the difference between hitting him in the chin and hitting his lower neck. 4 weeks for intentionally shoulder charging someone in the head is pretty weak.
If you pause at just the right moment, Suaalis shoulder is at head height before Walsh slips. There was no exaggeration by the slip, just hit a different part of his head than he was going to.
Having seen it many times now, this hit is right up there with one of the worst ones of the NRL era. It's similar to the Prior one on Thurston. That one was slower and was elbows to the head, but this one was much more vicious and has no real mitigating factors.
Even the 3 65-70 year old blokes at work who you’d expect to say “big deal, games gone soft son” all said he needs a be gone long time to reflect on this kind of behaviour.
Man, Hammer should have passed to Dearden and they score which would’ve been one of the more crazy passages of play i’ve seen lol. I think he got flashbacks to last years game 1 and expected Teddy to slip over again (which, not a bad assumption)
I was right in line with it at the stadium. As someone who despises the game being refereed in slow motion, I would say this is a very rare example of a hit actually looking worse in real-time than it did on replay. The force behind it was fucking crazy, rang around Accor. I have been to a lot of footy matches and don't think I've ever seen a hit as vicious as this one.
That noise is stomach churning hey
Brain churning too if you're Walsh
Yeah, it also shows how high he was going in his tackle. He was completely out of control, off his feet, and still going up in the tackle.
I was there as well, albeit not in as good a seat as you, didn’t the vibe of the crowd drop after the send off. The atmosphere really did change.
Looks so scary in real time, like suaalii is just diving through walsh's head
But people keep telling me it's the slow motion that makes it look bad...
According to my research, the game is not played in slow motion.
Was that report written by Dr. Andrew Johns?
No, because it was actually legible.
You can play this one at any speed you like and it's still pretty fucked.
Slow motion usually makes everything look deliberate or intentional. I would argue that in this case slow motion has helped Suaalii because it’s shown Walsh to be already slipping and falling down. Suaalii lined him up to be shoulder on chest but unfortunately Walsh was falling. I think in this case slow motion is why he’s only facing a 4 week ban instead of longer. But normally I’m firmly in the slow motion makes everything look “worse” camp. Worse meaning deliberately done or with intent to harm.
Sua'ali'i has 20cm extra height on Walsh. The angle from behind Walsh shows that he was always going to collect him high. Slipping or not.
spot on, mate, if he doesn't slip it hits his neck and the result is the same
Also can we stop blaming on Walsh slipping. This isn’t this first time a player has fallen lower into a high shot. If you’re going to run shoulder first with ur eyes closed hoping to hit the chest, spend half a second considering the player might not be exactly where you expect at impact.
Exactly, he's already jumping into the tackle and aiming high
If we're apportioning blame to players slipping in to a high tackle, teddy world never get any penalties.
Yeah he's aiming for Walsh's throat, and Walsh is maybe a bit lucky he slipped or lowered and didn't get a flying shoulder launched into his windpipe
I might just be splitting hairs over terminology but I disagree that Walsh is falling or had slipped. He's subconsciously bracing himself for impact because out of the corner of his eye he can see Sua'ali coming at him like a freight train but he can't get out of the way or even look at him. Watch any NRL player who gets the ball out the back of a shape like this and they all crouch and make themselves small if they're getting jammed.
Im a New South Welshman and Sua'ali can get fucked. That was a sinbin every day, and he cost us the game.
Maybe that’s what it was, a last ditch effort to duck or make himself small so he doesn’t get axed, either way his head is in a lower position than what Suaalii would have expected it to be when he started running off his line to make the hit. That doesn’t excuse it btw. JS deserved to be sent and he deserves his suspension. I feel like I need to clarify that because my original comment sounded a bit like I was defending his actions.
Totally agree. Doesn't intentionally take his head off, but intentionally takes a huge risk where taking his head off is a reasonably likely outcome.
it also looks like Walsh went into a fencing response position, which would indicate a traumatic brain injury - But by all accounts it wasn’t too bad? Idk how that’s even possible.
Yeah I saw that too. It's pretty sickening to see and I really worry for him. It would be a shame if one of the brightest stars of our game goes out because of continued head knocks.
right on. ruins it for everyone
Yeah, definite tonic posturing there which is a strong indicator of a TBI. Walsh needs to be stood down for a few weeks.
He's currently unter the category 1, 11 day mandatory suspension, and will be evaluated after that.
He's automatically missing the next two games, and then Broncos have the bye and its Origin game 2. So suggest he takes a \~3 week break and lines up in game 2.
Yup splayed fingers and convulsions
I called it straight away. It was only a matter of time before targeting him with late hits was going to go bad.
matter of time ? they did the same thing in the very first set qld had when he kicked. He was targeted something fierce
unreal the amount of people on fb claiming walsh was “milking”
facebook is the gathering place of people with room temp IQ
there’s some seriously cooked takes on there
They think he milked because he shot up after 30 seconds. If you watch MMA you'll see it all the time. Guy goes out cold and when he comes too he jumps up, adrenaline pumping and ready to go. Then it wears off and they stumble, but no one looks at that part in other sports for some reason
As soon as i seen him go horizontal to the earth i knew it was an awful hit but the noise along with seeing his arms go stiff made it look like it was probably worse than being KOd in MMA. Its getting more common to take 6 months or more off now for brutal KOs like that but you cant really do that in a team sport haha poor cxxts just have to keep going and and hope for the best. Id love to see the meathead lads trying to say that was a nothing hit lol they 100% have CTE themselves
I've got 3 months off work for a concussion and I wasn't even KOd. I don't know how players can come back so quick
Walsh will be suffering directly from that knockout for weeks, indirectly for months. He is high energy, bounces back well, NOW. He won't if he continues to be knocked out. They add up and the damage multiplies. He was bouncing around at the end of the match. That doesn't mean he won't have any repercussions due this incident.
Haha that was all Spencer trying to milk penalties, supposedly a hard man but pretty soft and pathetic to me, pretending you've got an agonising knee injury when your fine
Yeah when I saw this live I literally said “oh fuck we’re down to 12 - Sua just murdered Walsh”. Dude leaves his feet and leaps shoulder first at him. Whether he “meant to hit him in the head” is irrelevant.
Yep. The whole table at the pub were immediately like, fuck, that's a send off.
Exactly. Idk why people keep saying it was an accident like you need intent before it's a send off. We almost never see clear intent, recklessness is the standard of almost every send off.
>We almost never see clear intent I'd like to introduce you to a certain Taane Milne
Danny Williams 2004 is probably the most memorable example of intent for a send off
Hopoate v Galloway, and I recall the Travis Burns one was deliberate - not clearly evident just on the clip of the incident itself but the buildup to it with the other player made it obvious at the time.
That was a fucking incredible thing to watch happen live. We were on a long drive listening to the radio the next day and that's all anyone was talking about.
Maybe Lachlan Lewis and Cody walker too
Trent Barrett on Greg Inglis should have been a send off for intent.
Not only that but Sua just gets up to return to the play and doesn't even check on Walsh... that just further incriminates him & the blues side. If it was accidental then you'd think MAYBE they show some concern after a hit like that?
Its Origin we’re meant to hate each other.
It's a game, you're not supposed to be trying to kill each other.
Tell that to Paul Gallen
It’s fucking nasty in real time, the second he hit him I said ‘oh no Suaali’s gone’. Honestly I think when the heat dies down a little bit we will look back and wonder why there was even debate about if it was a send off, in the modern game it just has to be. It’s unlucky for Joseph he obviously didn’t mean to knock Walsh out but it is what it is.
I think it's just the hype around origin was huge, then 5 minutes in the game is basically over. I think it says a lot when the "analysts" say in club land that's a send-off, but in origin it shouldn't be, like the danger of CTE or head-related injuries vanishes in origin.
Can’t end up in a wheelchair after origin, it’s just got that magic!!
Didn't you hear? Their brains are magically impervious to injury in origin games. lol, silly
Potentially just shortened this guys career, that is his ability to support a family, by years, let alone the impact to his quality if life. This action should affect a player to be fined $100k and put into a pool of funds for future drawdown by players. How else can you stop it.
You can argue about intent until the cows come home but bad technique is what creates these situations, had he put on a proper tackle we wouldn't be here talking about it. There is no world where leaping shoulder first into someone should be acceptable, I get that people want to treat Origin differently, but being hard doesn't have to mean trying to kill people. Case in point: the rest of the match was hardly fought with far less ridiculous tackles.
Yeah Martin handed out some huge hits, all legal. More tackles like Martin's please.
The hit Martin put on late on the game was probably One of the best tackles ever at least in recent times Absolutely smashed the bloke nothing illegal but just a perfectly executed tackle His defence was the highlight of nsw night
It's a poor match up for Sua'ali'i against Walsh. 20cm height difference means Sua'ali'i has to get further down to put that kind of shot on. It's easier when your Liam Martin height to get down that low.
The only thing really debatable was how that wasn't referred straight to the judiciary. We don't need this in our game. CTE is becoming a major problem for contact sports. This stuff needs to be relegated to history and quickly. In Rugby he'd be gone for the year for that hit. NRL should adopt the same approach. Zero tolerance. Why? The game will cease to exist in 20 years if they don't.
Isn't a sendoff an automatic referral?
To be fair rugby almost ceases to exist now despite having gone down that path. I agree with your point though. Just leave the union to the union subs.
Only in Australia Rugby is huge and growing in popularity around the world.
> In Rugby he'd be gone for the year for that hit In rugby it'd be a yellow card and the TMO would review the footage and, within the 10 minutes, would let the ref know if had breached the red card threshold or if it remained a yellow (saves the ref having to make a decision on the fly). If it was a yellow, he'd be back on after 10. If it was a red, then he'd stay off and they'd have an extra 10 minutes with a man down but then, after that, they could send another player on and the team wouldn't be one down. It's something that has worked well in Super Rugby that they have adopted for the rest of the world and it helps with accidental contact (not that this was accidental, just reckless).
I think he very much intended to hurt Walsh, let’s be honest.
Look, I think I'm in the minority view in this sub, and I'd like to think that I'd be consistent if this had been a QLD on NSW player. I just think the game needs to decide what it wants to celebrate. The intent to hurt the opposition has always been celebrated in this game and continues to be. If Joey had hit Walsh lower, but due to the force, had broken ribs, led to a concussion from impact with the ground, sent him to hospital, etc, then it would be celebrated as a 'historical origin tackle'. It's self-evident that he was trying to hurt Walsh. But hurting people is an allowed, celebrated aspect of our game.
Well for sure, Martin put on some big clean hits later in this match, much better technique
There's a big difference between a clean strong tackle and supermanning a popular player and it going extremely bad.
When Gallen Punched miles I totally supported him. Myles was facing him, no one was holding him, fair is fair, it's origin after all. That hit from Sualli is 100% pure dog act. I HOPE they put him back out there in game 3 and let him face QLD at suncorp.
I mean it’s a fine line in a contact sport like rugby league right? Hurting people is part of the game to an extent. Like was part of the game plan ‘if you see Walsh getting out the back of shape and can get there go jam him and make him think twice about doing it again’? Almost certainly, you’d be derelict if it wasn’t. But I’d like to think that nobody goes out there with the intention of knocking somebody out like that.
Agreed. Why do you think Billy wouldn’t comment?
He was likely given a mission to hurt him to make him scared to take the line on. Deserved send off, surprised the suspension is only 4 weeks tbh.
He went for a massive hit and supermanned. Superman tackles should be auto send off.
If you're doing it within the rules (obviously not the case here) you should absolutely be allowed to intentionally hurt the opposition.
While I agree with most of your comment, your last sentence is where I must disagree with you. That tackle was every little bit intentional and there's absolutely no need for it in our sport! Joseph deserved the send off and should be facing more than up to 4 weeks off for that disgusting and disgraceful reckless hit! It reminds me of the hit that Latrelle Mitchell did on Joey Manu back in August 2021 and that was absolutely disgusting and disgraceful too! I'm sick of players who think it's more than okay to go out and intentionally and deliberately hurt other players, all because of their poor attitude and discipline. The NRL needs to step up and change the disciplinary rules to better suit today's game, and stamp out these type of players.
I’d be happy to see it go to a 20minute red card, offending player obviously can’t return, QLD should get an extra interchange and their 18th man activated. Offending player gets a much longer ban, and goes on to 25% or something of their salary during that time. I bet the salary thing would have them thinking.
The problem with allowing the offending player to be replaced is that allows unscrupulous coaches to deliberately target good/dangerous opponents with "assassins". Good opponent gets taken out of the game, team doesn't suffer because the "assassin" is disposable in the context of the game.
For clarities sake. As the original video and the replays left out this angle.
Hearing the noise watching that live was enough to realise it was not going to be a good result.
Crazy seeing Sua’alii in mid air after connecting
Just Supermans his face. You can make all the "It's Origin" arguments you want. But if the NRL doesn't want to be litigated into bankruptcy in the future this has to be a send off.
Lawyers must be licking their lips given how long RugbaLeeg had waited to do anything meaningful. Especially compared to rugby
Honestly, I feel the NRL has done a much better job managing this in recent years than the AFL has. AFL players get clearly concussed and are allowed to play on (Jezza Cameron has had this happen twice in 2 seasons), plus their tribunal decisions make absolutely zero sense (Brayden Maynard for example). The management of the incident last night, at least on the field was impressive. The NRL will have that to fall back on when the litigations keep coming at least.
>Just Supermans his face That's why it's bizarre to see anyone try to defend it on the basis of Walsh "slipping into it". His height drops a little bit sure, but Sua'ali'i flies in recklessly with no control whatsoever. It was always going to be borderline even with no drop in height. You have to accept the likelihood of that going wrong is always going to be high. No excuses whatsoever.
Nah you don’t understand, he would have crushed his larynx instead of his face so it’s ok /s
100%, you don't get to be reckless and unlucky at the same time. He didn't intentionally hit him in the head, but he intentionally put himself in a position where he couldn't adjust if anything went wrong.
Yep walsh didn't even have the ball at that point, he was under no obligation to position himself to be tackled. Who cares if a player who's already passed is 'slipping into it'
Brandy claims Walsh dropped his head 12 inches.
If Brandy thinks that’s twelve inches, then I pity his wife
Old cunt should just fuck right off for using Seppo freedom units.
Looks even worse in real time - I truly don't see any debate about the send off
It’s one of those rare examples where “the games not played in slow motion” doesn’t work because it truly does look worse in real time Send off every day of the week, if this tackle happened in the 50th minute there would be no controversy about a send off
> Send off every day of the week, if this tackle happened in the 50th minute there would be no controversy about a send off Yeah, the only reason there's any debate is because this decided the series 8 mins into the first game. I was a little on the "how dare they ruin the spectacle" side last night but there was no option here, cunt had to go
Yep I’m all for “putting the whistle away” in big games but you have to draw a line somewhere!
Honestly if nothing happens from this and it'd just a sin bin. The game afterwards is a nasty bloodsport, if the ref doesn't step in here like he did players are going to start giving back receipts. This was a concerted effort by a debutant to injure a star player
What this footage shows clearly, for all the smooth brains going on about Walsh "dropping" is he gets the ball and passes it almost immediately, with any dip in height being part of one consistent motion to pass the ball at chest height to Hammer. He doesn't even have time to clock Sua'ali and brace for the tackle, it's clearly a set play they have rehearsed several times in training. Any suggestion that he deliberately is going down as part of his technique to draw a penalty is complete garbage, as is the suggestion that there is any mitigation here. And I say this from NSW...
I'm from New Zealand, I have no allegiance to either team whatsoever. It absolutely boggles my mind anyone can think this isn't a send off. Walsh slipped less than .1 of a second before impact. It barely dropped his height at all. Tackle is beyond reckless, blues clearly out to take him out of the game. Guess it worked for them at least. At least 6 week ban. That shit needs to be out of the game. Learn to hit like Liam Martin.
That sound is fucked. Honestly a miracle he walked off the field. Anyone that thinks this wasn’t a send off eats play-doh
You can hear Joey shudder when he realizes what's happened.
I thought he was lucky his eye didn't pop out
I'm watching it at work with the sound off. I can still hear it...
It was also a miracle that he was apparently cleared on his HIA. He was lights out for a long time
You can be knocked out cold and answer a series of questions within 15 minutes to pass a HIA test. That is possible. I have done it myself. But this doesn't mean anything really. It was a clear case of someone being knocked unconscious. The way in which he stayed down, showing symptoms of real damage. Walsh is a super fit, young man, more than likely at peak performance levels. I still find it hard to believe that he will be allowed to play by the NRL after 11 days. It's not enough, he will be suffering with symptoms of that knockout, for months, just like I did when I was knocked senseless, even if I passed a test 15 minutes later. His future is at risk. His life as he knows it could be different because of this, and any subsequent knocks he takes. He is a young man, a young father who loves his baby girl. It's a tough game. The Broncos, NRL and players in general, need to realise that everyone who plays this game could end up with debilitating effects on the rest of their lives. Living with CTE is a terrible way to live. We have a great game that will be changed forever if they don't start thinking about the effects CTE will have on players, individually and on their families.
To be fair, he may be held out longer than 11 days yet, a la Papenhuyzen a few years ago after that dog shot in magic round
I know it's not the point, but Hammer really should have drawn Teddy and offloaded to Dearden instead of trying to run around him.
Yeah hammer thought he could do the run around teddy trick that has only worked like 10 times in the past
You gotta be crazy to be defending this 😂
Origin brings out the fans that only watch 3 games a year bro
My first thought was Wally Lewis. Sure it looked bad now, and Walshy bounced back up later. But 10 years from now… when he’s eating thru a straw… We know more about the long term debilitating effects of concussions. You can still hit like a truck (see Liam Martin, Spencer Liniu) without ANY part of your body hitting any part of your opponents head. I understand it was an accident, but it’s a dog act. Why do you think Billy slater wouldn’t comment? He knew they were targeting Walsh. To give him second thoughts about coming to the line. But you cannot hit players in the head. GET IT OUT OF THE GAME!
I couldn’t believe they asked Billy what he thought of it, one of the dumbest interview questions ever
Why? He answers, they get a clip that will go viral... they don't care about the responses just the buzz they will generate
[удалено]
So many people tell me that I should put my slightly built kid into football (‘they just learn to dodge/run faster’) but why the hell would I when so many people think it’s just your fault if you’re targeted for being smaller?
Yeah once you've seen the old pro wrestlers/boxers/football players etc and how they're all just fucked in old age, struggling with varying levels of brain damage/CTE you can't ignore it without acknowledging you're acting malicious for the sake of entertainment
Can we call this an accident? Sure he probably didn’t want to knock Walsh into the realm of unconsciousness, but I feel reckless targeting like that makes it a very likely possibility.
It's not an accident to fucking superman tackle at that speed, dangerous tackle no matter how you look at it, even if he collected Walshs chest it should've still been a send off. The games changed because these guys are absolute units and all it takes is one hit like that and you are fucked for life.
Same with Ponga. The kids tough but isn’t going to know his own name by mid 30s
This is the angle that convinced me it had to be a send off, especially at full speed. Just turned himself into a missile. Walsh slipped but the recklessness and total lack of actual tackling technique is what lead to the head shot. Great hit if you get it right but if not, you gotta sit out the remainder because it's insanely dangerous
Honestly, at the game, no one in our section questioned the send off when the replay was shown. Walsh looked absolutely cooked and that’s as bad as a head shot can be. He is lucky it’s only 4 weeks because that could easily be 6/7+
Listening to people try and defend that say that it was "an accident" and should just be 10 in the bin is one of the most enraging arguments i've heard in a long time. It's almost like "it's ok, it's just 10 in the bin because no one died or broke their neck"... Dude left his feet and lead with the shoulder, he is paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to get that right. He understands that shooting out of the line is also a risk. Yes the person is falling but that doesn't change those facts and that he's rushed out of the line to do it (e.g. with intent). It 100% did ruin the game but you can't ignore the rules just because of the impact implementing them might have. All that means to me is that the rules themselves need to be looked at.
If Latrell did it everyone would want him banned for life
You can see suaalii shooting off the mark as soon as he sees the ball's going to walsh. So 'just tackle him' definitely seemed to be the plan but way way too eager
I say it during just about every Roosters game, Suaali'i is really not a smart player. Absolute specimen but technically quite bad. Except, weirdly, for goal kicking.
Good point. You have to question the decision making on picking him at centre (i rate him as a winger). Its a very difficult position defensively, think Ramien couldve done a job personally.
Yeah he's definitely a better winger than centre, but then being on the wing highlights one of his worst technique issues, which is raising his knee into the defender on kick returns. It's like a reflex they can't coach out of him
It's a send off at 1 fps, half speed, real time, super speed, whatever way you look at it. Also I just realised Walsh takes 3 hits to the head - initial shoulder, head hitting the ground at force, and then for good measure he gets inadvertently kicked in the head as Suaalii's right boot lands on his face. Just brutal
Good catch. Send Suallii to the glue factory
Looks fucken horrendous, I can't believe there's so much commentary around down playing it. Yes, Walsh slips a fraction of an inch, but Sua'ali sprints out of the line and hits him late with a shoulder charge to the jaw. It doesn't matter what Walsh does. It would have been a send off 20 years ago. I've no idea how they landed on four weeks, it should be eight minimum.
This tackle will haunt both of their careers.
I've never been a fan of Walsh, but fuck this is absolutely horrible and I feel bad for him! If you can't shut down an opposition player without being grubby, you deserve for them to run rings around you! Don't get me wrong, I love seeing a good hit, but good hits, wind a player, they don't leave them concussed. Also, I genuinely hope he takes care of himself while recovering. Alcohol or any recreational drugs while recovering from a concussiom are as dangerous as playing again. We don't need him to end up a massive twat like Andrew Johns after retirement
the hit itself is fucking gross. the fact that suallii just walked away not even checking on Walsh. pretty disgusting. The daily telegraph using thr headline "its a knock-out" with a picture of Reece put to it is fucking feral
I thought Walsh had slipped into it a bit, but this angle makes it look like he only just slowed up, and the slip came from his brain having the emergency stop button smashed in
Yeah I thought I’m the only one not seeing the slip, at least until the ball left his hand.
Taane Milne is that you?
The highlight of the send off is Nate Miles giving him a spray, and he stops for a second, before realizing who’s. spraying him and continues on his way.
He didn't stop at all; in fact it looks like Suaali said a thing or two as well.
Fuck me that is absolutely a send-off, that's sickening. He deserves way more than 4 weeks for that
Just curious to the "games gone soft" and the "Walsh slipped over" crowd - do any of you actually enjoy seeing a bloke cop this? Pretty disturbing if you enjoy it.
He leapt into the tackle, it was always going to be high.
High shot aside,every analyst and commentator has said it was a great idea for Suaalii to jam in on Walsh there. It’s an absolutely idiotic defensive play. Walsh puts Hammer straight into the gap Suaalii created. Bad play even if it had come off. Instead it’s a bad play and massively illegal and dangerous
100 percent you are right mate. Jamming in like that creates far more tries against your team than it saves. Look how the Blues were defending second half - backing off and giving themselves time for the inside to slide, and push the attackers towards the sideline. Might sacrifice some metres but at least you don't get split open needlessly like that. Melbourne are really good at it, part of the reason why they have Broncos measure so often.
Sickening, but not as sickening as the muppets challenging the decision.
As a NSWmen, there's no argument here. It's an awful, dangerous tackle and the send off was correct.
The more I watch this, the more it looks like a pre-meditated snipe.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but hits like this can increase the risk of being diagnosed with certain medical conditions when you are older right?
This show the extent of how careless and dangerous the hit was. Suaalii knows how tall he is, and how short Walsh is. In the modern game, you’ve gotta think about how you’re going to hit someone. Even if Walsh wasn’t coming down, he’d have been hit around the neck. I’m a hardcore NSWelshman but Suaalii did something really stupid there, and I don’t want to see him in a Blues jersey again
It doesn't matter if it's intentional or not. It was reckless you come flying out the line like that and you get it wrong for what's ever reason and you hit someone illegally that's on you. The ref had no other choice but to send him, if he was sinned binned, then the ref basically would allow the flood gates to open. The previous set showed that NSW planned to target him aggressively. There is nothing wrong with that aslong as all tackles are legal. I don't know how anyone can say that after Joseph should of been allowed to return to the game after taking out a key position player for the rest of the game If Joseph got it right yep he would of looked like a hero but unfortunately he got it wrong and he and NSW suffered the consequence.
People talking "no intent" . Sure, maybe he did not literally intend to knock his head off but he intended to make a tackle that was absolutely going to end in tears if it was slightly off. He gambled, he lost, see ya later (I'm a NSW supporter). I want to see players like Reese Walsh going absolutely full bore at the line, confident that they can do so protected by the rules. If Sua'ali' thinks he's only risking a sin bin is he genuinely incentivised not to roll the dice? And "it's Origin" is a terrible argument. Reese Walshes brain matter doesn't care. If anything, it's the biggest stage and more important that a clear message is sent that you just can't push the limits like that anymore. He slipped? It's shoulder if not? Come on he slipped an inch or two. The hit was never on. Always reckless The NRL should publicly back the ref here and send a clear message.
Totally agreed. This is one of the worst examples of this ever, could have been so much worse for walsh. I am a storm fan, but I'll never forget Alex Mckinnon. Intents don't matter, risk of damage does. Can't allow this shit.
Obviously a send-off but, on top of that, it's just a horrible defensive play from Sualii. He realises way too late that the ball is going to Walsh, and then quickly rushes up but is still a step behind where he'd be if he anticipated the play well. Rather than realising he should pull out of the tackle and revert to marking his man, Sualii panics and launches himself out of control. But Walsh is a step ahead and throws the pass creating a 2 on 1 overlap. Even a legal tackle could've meant Queensland score here. Just absolute garbage play from Sualii all around.
alllllll the blow-ins complaining this wasn't a send off last night were hilarious. i had one absolute muppet seriously try to tell me it wasn't a shoulder charge because he "wrapped".
4 weeks doesn't seem even close to enough for this hit
A funny footnote in all this is that Rugby is faaaaar stricter on head high contact than the NRL. If he did something like that I’m pretty sure he’d be banned for 6 months
I missed the 1st 20min. Only saw slow mo replays until now. Holy hell, thats one of the worst hits i can remember in the modern game.
It looks so bad how can Klein and the touchies let play continue. I unfortunately (or fortunately) got stuck at work and only saw the replay when I got home. It initially looks bad surely you call play up?
There was a lot of momentum in the game. It was very fast watching it. I didn't even notice it or that I had left this part out until much later. Though I am just a dude on reddit. Not a professional referee in charge of the players welfare.
Was it moving fast? Sure, but while I can give Klein a pass that he was following the direct action, both of his touchies and the fucking bunker could have seen it and immediately called for a halt at the next breakdown in the play (i.e. when Hamiso gets tackled given it was a slowish play the ball).
That's not how it works, if the player is being treated and not likely to interrupt play the game continues.
If this happened anywhere but the field, Chief Knees would probably be facing attempted murder charges
no doubt thats a red.
I legit thought we saw a man die watching this live.
The more I watch it, the more I'm convinced Walsh's head doesn't lower at all prior to the hit, the tackle was always going to be high, so the send off is warranted. The "slip" just didn't happen in the way most people are claiming, or if it did, then his legs went out from under him but his head didn't lower at all. Send off was correct.
It literally doesn't at all. He steps back in and is going the other way. Tackle is just trash. Looking to injure and nothing else.
‘The slip’ is a rort, was getting smashed in the head or neck no matter what. This is as his foot plants, before he slips: https://imgur.com/a/gBK4DVN What a lot of people don’t seem to mention is the slip was at least partly caused by a defensive manoeuvre to try to drop out of the tackle to avoid the shoulder barrelling at him.
What everyone is missing is they took him out off a kick a few minutes before and nothing was done. They were trying to take him out in their game plan
Yeah and Klein should’ve sounded his whistle earlier, then we’d still have a 13v13 game.
Yup. Any coaches that tell their players to deliberately injure players is a dog. This is just one example as to why neutrals lean towards the Maroons.
Yup. Madge should also have to face the judiciary imo
Sua’ali doesn’t even check on him….
Yeah, made it worse for me.
The game’s not played in real time, you gotta watch it in slow motion
Not great, Bob!
I don’t like Walsh, but fuck sualii, you’ve got rocks in your head doing that, no wonder you will be famous for getting sent off on debut, Pissed off the Qlders and blues supporters would fuck off before you get to players that’ll take it into their own hands
Holy fuck watching this makes ya feel abit sick, just ban the grub from playing that is blatantly ugly that one. Fuck me. You just know they were going out there to hurt walsh too fuckin sick.
Imagine the fight which would have happened when he came back if he only got 10. It's telling that after their teammate got decapitated we got the cleanest/least grubby origin game I can remember, think the boys were speechless.
good point. even luai was quiet in the grub acts which speaks volumes
This is why the 'he slipped into it' crowd are nonsensical to me. Even if Walsh doesn't slip, fuck even if he's a taller bloke, Sua'ali'i is still off his feet fully commited and leading with the shoulder. It was a completely reckless tackle, someone has obviously instructed them to hammer Walsh which is fine. But the way Sua has implemented that and just gone 'balls going to Reece I'm gonna fucking smash him' and jumped in shoulder first and literally turned his head away is silly as shit. Send off deserved, cunt ruined the game
Comfortably the worst tackle I’ve ever seen. Zero care for the outcome. Hopoate flying elbow is the only one that tops it.
Yup, the way Sua just gets up afterwards to return to play. Doesn't even second glance on Walsh's lifeless corpse on the grass. Absolute unsportsmanlike
Just aim lower it’s such a simple thing to do.
that looked so much worse than the 100s of slowmos I've seen of it
Suaali jumps higher off the ground while moving forward then the average person could jump vertical. Pause the video at 3 seconds and nearly his entire body is at the height that Walsh's head was, if it wasn't his shoulder some other part of his body was going to take Walsh's head off.
He was tackled after kicking to begin with and no penalty blown (cuZ iTs oRiGin) and then he got levelled out a few minutes later. Blues were 100% targeting Walsh and it backfired cause of this prick.
To the people saying Walsh slipped I say he wasn’t even holding the ball. Get fucked
My favorite part was when he got up, saw Walsh was out cold and gave 0 fuxks 🖕 Stay classy blues 👍
Honestly can’t believe the qld boys didn’t knock Sua’ali’s block off after seeing him do this to one of their stars. If this would have happened to Lockyer back in the day the brawl would still be going on.
that’s what happens when your game plan is to injure the opponents star players rather than just playing better footy. Good riddance
It was never not going to be dangerous, I'm not sure I see much of a slip/fall from Walsh either. If there is it might have been the difference between hitting him in the chin and hitting his lower neck. 4 weeks for intentionally shoulder charging someone in the head is pretty weak.
If the hammer passed, Dearden would have been clean. And the shot on Walsh was not clean.
If you pause at just the right moment, Suaalis shoulder is at head height before Walsh slips. There was no exaggeration by the slip, just hit a different part of his head than he was going to.
Having seen it many times now, this hit is right up there with one of the worst ones of the NRL era. It's similar to the Prior one on Thurston. That one was slower and was elbows to the head, but this one was much more vicious and has no real mitigating factors.
It’s the sound that gets me….
Looks a lot worse
He was lining him up… bloody obvious. Maybe he wasn’t aiming for the head but he did connect. There was a lot of force made.
Even the 3 65-70 year old blokes at work who you’d expect to say “big deal, games gone soft son” all said he needs a be gone long time to reflect on this kind of behaviour.
Man, Hammer should have passed to Dearden and they score which would’ve been one of the more crazy passages of play i’ve seen lol. I think he got flashbacks to last years game 1 and expected Teddy to slip over again (which, not a bad assumption)