Penrith District Rugby League: Horrific high shot dampens grand final showdown

It was a split second of madness that threatened to ruin a magic day of Penrith footy grand finals. See vision of the horrendous stiff-arm tackle and catch up on the latest ramifications.

It was a day of Penrith footy grand finals to savour, but if that wasn’t enough, one moment of madness ensured Sunday’s action will be forever etched in local folklore.

Bookended by last minute thrillers, St Patricks claimed the Division 3 title after the mercy rule was called during their 56-6 shellacking of Windsor.

But it was a lack of mercy just before half time that has since gone viral.

With St Pats up 26-0, Windsor kicked off, only this time Wolves forward Chris Leonard chased with intent.

If unsuspecting ball-carrier Ethan Tasoulis had his time again, he may have stepped. Instead, he was levelled by a coathanger tackle straight from the 70s vault.

Stiff-arm madness: Windsor player Chris Leonard (No.24) takes aim at Ethan Tasoulis. Picture: Steve Montgomery

Dazed and confused, Tasoulis eventually joined the dismissed Leonard on the sidelines.

Oddly, as often happens, there was no melee, not even handbags at ten paces.

“It certainly deserved a send off, and we were content with that,” said laconic St Pats football manager Bob Egan on Tuesday morning.

“We had already put a score on them so it was probably an act of frustration. Ethan didn’t come back on, but he was okay at the ground, and he’s fine now.”

It’s nothing short of a miracle. As shown in our photograph, the rugged prop is fortunate to still have a head on his shoulders.

Headless: The moment Ethan Tasoulis is levelled. Picture: Steve Montgomery

For Penrith District Junior Rugby League general manager Blake South, the incident has wider ramifications.

“It was a particularly disappointing incident, made all the more upsetting because we haven't seen grand final crowds at park footy like that in years,” said South.

“The league are certainly concerned with the amount of conduct issues we’ve received in Division 3 this year.

“It’s an area we will address in the off-season, more specifically the structure and criteria for teams to enter the competition.”

As for an outcome to Sunday’s incident, there’s still more to play out.

“The gradings and charges are out of our hands,” said South.

“The NSW Rugby League takes care of that, but we will provide the video footage to support the referee’s report.”