‘Kicked him in the face’: NRL stunned as wild act goes unpunished
A can of worms has been reopened in the NRL after Sean O’Sullivan copped a boot to the face as Kyle Feldt defused a bomb.
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Fans, commentators and even players have been left stunned after Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt escaped any punishment after appearing to kick Dolphins playmaker Sean O’Sullivan in the face.
The Cowboys came away with a 34-10 win over the Dolphins to keep their season alive but it was a moment early in the first half that left viewers scratching their heads.
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After a bomb was put up, O’Sullivan chased hard but copped Feldt’s studs in the face.
While it wasn’t a good look, it appeared to be accidental.
Similar issues have arisen in the past, such as with Billy Slater in 2013, where he appeared to kick then-Bulldog David Klemmer in the face while defusing a bomb.
Regardless, in an age of protecting the head, it didn’t sit well with everyone.
“Oh, the karate kid. Kyle Feldt, straight in to the mush of Sean O’Sullivan,” Dan Ginnane said.
O’Sullivan was fuming as his protests came through the referee’s mic.
“You can’t do that. He kicked me,” O’Sullivan said.
But after being told to play on by the Bunker, referee Gavin Badger said it was tackle one.
“How is that tackle one? He kicked me,” O’Sullivan protested.
Ginnane summed up the issue, saying: “There was a player many years ago who was know for that sort of action … duty of care is such a vague description, sometimes we use it, sometimes we don’t.”
A minute later, Feldt scored in the corner, rubbing salt in the wounds, especially as O’Sullivan tried to make the tackle.
At halftime, Yvonne Sampson asked: “Are you allowed to kick someone in the face now? Because Kyle Feldt had no repercussions from this.”
“This was a strange one,” James Graham said. “I thought was watching (WWE legend) Shawn Michaels for a moment there, tuning up the band with some Sweet Chin Music. And he’s caught Sean O’Sullivan right in the teeth. He’s going to need a good dentist when he gets back to Redcliffe.”
Greg Alexander unequivocally said: “It should be a penalty. If that’s his technique … and I’ve seen him land like that.”
He also pointed to a moment in the Warriors-Dragons match earlier on Friday where Dallin Watene-Zelezniak kneed Zac Lomax in the head.
“Do you penalise him for that?” Alexander said. “If it keeps occurring, then the NRL should step in and say you’ve got a problem with your technique, change it. But I still think it should have been a penalty but nothing else but that.”
Cooper Cronk added that it would only see the NRL step in if it became a trend.
Viewers were not happy with what they saw.
Reporter Mark Gottlieb tweeted: “How the eff was that not a penalty on Feldt? He kicked him in the face!”
ESPN columnist Matt Bungard posted: “I understand ‘it was an accident’ but by that logic, should we rarely penalise high tackles in future as most of those are accidents too?
“Feldt sticks his leg out unnecessarily and (unintentionally) kicks a player in the face. How can that be ignored?”
Western Weekender reporter Lachlan Jeffrey wrote: “Well, it’s finally official. Kicking in the face is legal in the NRL”.
Post-match, Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett was asked about it and said: “It’s all over the place that so I’ll just leave it alone. We’ll just have to live with it.”
Unsurprisingly, Cowboys coach Todd Payten said the right call was made.
“I only watched the replay once, I don’t think he struck out at him,” Payten said. “Kyle’s gone up, turned his body and O’Sullivan’s competing for the ball and ran into his boot. It’s unlucky.
“I thought the referee got it right, there’s no penalty there and it’s play on. I’ve seen that happen several times and it is what it is. It’s just unfortunate.”
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