NRL 2021: The message Dylan Brown sent to Drew Hutchison as Eels five-eighth makes return

Dylan Brown left Drew Hutchison in hospital with what he described as a ‘lazy tackle’. Now the remorseful Eels five-eighth has spoken publicly for the first time about the incident.

Dylan Brown has apologised for his “lazy” attempt at a tackle which left Sydney Roosters five-eighth Drew Hutchison in hospital.

The Parramatta five-eighth revealed he reached out to Hutchison directly via Instagram and privately told him of his regret for the knees-first tackle.

“Hey, bro the intention wasn't there, I hope you recover well,” Brown wrote to Hutchison.

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Dylan Brown will make his return this weekend after three weeks out.

“It was a bit longer than that, but those were the main messages. I put him in hospital and you don‘t want to put anyone in hospital, especially unintentionally. It was just the kind thing to do.

“I have a lot of sympathy for him. Because it‘s just sh*t to go out like that. And obviously, he’s scored a try. It was like such a positive situation which ended up being negative. I reached out to him, said sorry and he was good with it. He didn’t hold any grudge or anything. He knows it is just the game.”

Hutchinson was discharged from hospital for a second time last weekend as he had complications from the broken ribs and punctured lung he suffered. While Brown’s indiscretion was not penalised on the field, he was rubbed out of the game for three weeks.

He will make his return for the Eels against the Knights on Sunday.

“I was quite lazy with the tackle,” Brown said.

Roosters five-eighth Drew Hutchison recovering in hospital after a Dylan Brown tackle.

“It just happened real quick. I had no intention obviously. I don‘t think anyone in the game would have the intention of putting someone in hospital. I received a bit of hate on social media. But I just want everyone to know I had no intention of doing that. Hopefully, he can recover well, because I’ve seen he’s back in there again, which is pretty sad.

“I didn‘t feel the contact, I thought it was just a normal tackle. That’s why I was so passive with it. He was coming in, I thought he was going to go and try to score close to the line. I went to tackle him and my knee went into in. It was fast and I was lazy.”

In Brown’s absence, the Eels have lost their past two games. He will take his place on the right edge which has been troublesome defensively for Parramatta.

Halfback Mitchell Moses said Brown’s addition was key in helping the Eels get their season back on track.

“He is a quality player,” Moses said.

Drew Hutchison writhes in pain after being kneed in the back.

“Jake (Arthur) did a good job filling in. Dylan brings a lot of effort. He is a great defender and on the ball all the time. He will bring a lot of energy to the team. He is a big body and gets in front of players. He will help that edge.”

The Eels new-look right edge will have Brown defending with Tom Opacic and Haze Dunster.

Brown said it can easily be fixed.

“We‘ve got a system,” Brown said.

“When we’re following the system, you’d know that when we follow tries aren’t being scored. We haven’t been doing that last couple of weeks. We’ve done video today (Tuesday) and we realised how simple the fixes are so we’re pretty confident with that. We’re not freaking out. ”