The Tackle: Touching reason Brisbane Broncos celebrated victory with Xavier Willison’s rat’s tail

The Broncos might have just come up with the most unique victory song prop of all time – a rat’s tail. FATIMA KDOUH reveals why Brisbane celebrated their win with Xavier Willison’s hair.

Wheelie bins, eskies, football boots are all very common props in helping a winning side belt out their team song in victory after a match.

But the Broncos might have just come up with the most unique prop of all time – a rat’s tail.

Specifically, Xavier Willison’s platted rat’s tail.

Belting out the Broncos team song after disposing of the Cowboys, star prop Pat Carrigan was spotted waving around a ponytail of hair in celebration of Friday night’s victory.

It turns out, the ponytail in Carrigan’s grasp was just hours before the luscious mullet on Willison’s head.

The young Broncos forward revealed that he had a running bet with none other than Brisbane Chairman Karl Morris.

WATCH THE WILD CELEBRATION IN THE PLAYER ABOVE

Morris had pledged to donate $5000 to charity if Willison was willing to part with the mullet.

“I had a bet with Karl Morris, that he would donate five grand to charity … so I just cut it,” Willison revealed after the game.

“We were supposed to do it after the game, but I (ended up) cutting it before.

“But hopefully (the bet) is still on.”

The 22-year old joked that chopping off the mullet before the Cowboys clash made him more aerodynamic.

Patty Carrigan twirls Xavier Willison's rat’s tail.

“I felt pretty light, it was holding me back a little bit,” Willison said.

“Hopefully, I looked lighter out there.”

Carrigan also sports a head of flowing locks. Morris might have his next charity target in the hardworking Brisbane forward.

NRL ROUND 3 DISLIKES

There will not be a stranger or more ‘sensational’ penalty blown again this season.

Canterbury forward Josh Curran was penalised in the first half for what has been described as ‘impersonating a referee’.

Curran was caught by referee Wyatt Raymond calling out the Eels players as offside while he was behind the Parramatta defensive line late in the first half of Sunday’s western Sydney derby.

The off-side calls clearly threw off Parramatta players with Matt Doorey initially retreating from tackling Blake Wilson, as the Bulldogs winger ran the ball in the 36th minute.

“It’s against the spirit of the game... calling a bloke offside,” Raymond was heard telling Reed Mahoney, as the Canterbury hooker questioned the decision.

Bulldogs concede a penalty for impersonating the referee.

While some fans and pundits viewed the moment as nothing more than gamesmanship, Fox League commentator Andrew Voss was convinced Curran had tried to impersonate the referee.

“Someone (Curran) is impersonating a referee, that is a sensational call here. The referee has latched on a Canterbury player for calling one of the Eels defenders as offside and he stays out of the play,” Voss said.

Curran protested his innocence at halftime.

“I was saying, ‘he’s off, he’s off’,” Curran said on Channel 9.

“But I didn’t know it was a penalty.”

NASTY NAS

The image of Craig Bellamy with his head in his hands said it all.

The coach could barely watch the carnage caused by Nelson Asofa-Solomona on his own teammate Nick Meaney.

Asofa-Solomona was trying to put a big shot on Penrith’s Liam Henry. He missed his target and left Meaney with a facial fracture instead.

Accidents are part of the game but a regulation tackle from Asofa-Solomona, rather than trying to rattle Henry with a shoulder, could have potentially avoided the carnage and spared Bellamy the anguish.

It was the start of a shocking five-minute spell for Asofa-Solomona that included a knock on at the play the ball and a sloppy attempt to strip the ball to regain possession.

Craig Bellamy's reaction to Nelson Asofa-Solomona taking out teammate Nick Meaney.

Asofa-Solomona was only just returning from a five-game suspension, and could have easily missed the Panthers match had he been banned for a hip drop tackle in the Queensland Cup the weekend before.

Bellamy needs the big man to be at his best on the Storm’s premiership charge this year.

Right now, even greats like Scott Sattler believe Asofa-Solomona is more of a liability than anything else.

“He is a liability but the Storm go into each season hoping he won’t spend any time on the sideline but that he probably will,” Sattler said on SEN.

Asofa-Solomona won’t be available for Melbourne’s clash against the Dragons after he failed a head injury assessment after the Panthers match.

Storm star cracks teammate's jaw.

DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

Broncos star Reece Walsh is lucky to be lining up against the Dolphins, and even luckier he wasn’t sin-binned for a shoulder charge on Cowboys winger Murray Taulagi.

Taulagi was shoulder-charged trying to score in the corner in the 53rd minute of Friday night’s clash but the illegal, and dangerous tackle, was merely penalised in the run of play.

Referee Todd Smith should have sent Walsh into the bin. Canberra’s Joe Tapine was sin-binned in Las Vegas, and then copped a two week ban, for a shoulder charge on Warriors forward Mitch Barnett.

Like Tapine, Walsh made no “genuine attempt” to wrap his arm – as ruled by the bunker on Friday night. But yet he stayed on the field.

The fullback is the last line of defence in a try-scoring opportunity but even then they still have a duty of care to the opposition player.

Canterbury skipper Stephen Crichton gave away a penalty try on Dragons winger Christian Tuipulotu for leading with his knees in attempting to stop a try in the season opener.

He too wasn’t sin-binned at the time and he too escaped suspension.

Reece Walsh collision with Murray Taulagi.

Try-scorers need more protection, especially when they are in a vulnerable position and unable to brace or protect themselves from the incoming contact.

But Walsh has bigger worries this week as he prepares to take on the Dolphins in the Battle of Brisbane – his rocks and diamonds form.

He came up with a couple of brilliant individual plays like a 40-20 kick and a try assist for Gehamat Shibasaki but again his game was error-riddled and at times played with little patience.

Opposition sides have also figured out Walsh’s game and are putting a target on his back. It will be no different against the Dolphins, and for the rest of the season.

But his opposite number Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow is also under the pump too.

Tabuai-Fidow finished with 55 run metres in Saturday’s loss against the Tigers.

He is the Dolphins’ best attacking weapon and needs to inject himself into the game to give his side a fighting chance each week.

After three-straight losses and a run that includes the Broncos, Titans, Panthers and Melbourne, the Dolphins need every bit of Tabuai-Fidow’s elusiveness and attacking prowess.

Otherwise coach Kristian Woolf won’t just have to worry about shutting down the opposition but the narrative around the so-called “Wayne Bennett” curse, which has a number of coaches sacked after replacing the mastercoach.

BUNNIES BIG MEN BURIED

Cronulla had the run of possession early in the first half but Wayne Bennett’s forward pack was completely outplayed in Saturday’s loss.

Sharks powerhouse Addin Fonua-Blake finished the game with 167 metres – more run metres than both of Bennett’s starting props, Sean Keppie and Davvy Moale, combined.

Tevita Tatola only managed 45 metres from a 34 minute stint. The prop is arguably still finding his match fitness after only playing six games last year due to a serious foot injury.

But Fonua-Blake showed the Rabbitohs are still missing a metre-eating, line-bending middle forward.

Brandon Smith will help inject some energy and go forward, especially if he can rediscover the kind of form that made him one of the best impact forwards in the game.

For now, Bennett needs to find a way to unlock the upside in youngster Moale and hope Tatola finds the confidence that had him on the cusp of elite forward status.

NRL ROUND 3 LIKES

TIGERS SHOW THEIR CLAWS

Last Thursday this columnist spent the afternoon at Concord as Benji Marshall put his side through their paces ahead of Saturday’s victory against the Dolphins.

The aura around the place was different – in the best way.

Players gathered around before heading onto the training paddock joking and signing along to music so loud it almost drowned out their laughter.

The players were waiting for the man of the moment – Jack Bird.

It was his 30th birthday on Thursday and he had the honour of leading the side out for training to the cheers of his teammates.

While the music was turned down as training started, the noise only got louder.

Whether during warm up drills or the opposed session, the voices of players directing, commanding and just pushing each other rang out through Concord for the entire session.

Last year, especially at the back of the season with the Tigers anchored at the bottom of the ladder, the mood around training almost felt sombre.

Like there was a dark cloud hanging over the Tigers. There were rumblings of discontent between Marshall and some senior players, who are no longer at the club.

Marshall now has a galvanised group that is clearly taking their new attitude of “staying in the fight” to heart.

Jack Bird proved the hero for Wests Tigers. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Down 18-12 at halftime against the Dolphins, the Tigers of old were nowhere to be found. Instead, Marshall men kept the Dolphins scoreless in the second half and crawled their way back to a 30-18 victory.

The Tigers haven’t won three games in a row since 2018 but get the chance to break that drought against the Warriors on Sunday – and will be confident enough to pull it off.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

It’s not often the losing coach can walk away feeling better than the winning one.

That’s exactly how Ivan Cleary would have felt on Thursday night despite the loss to Melbourne.

Forced to play 65 minutes without Nathan Cleary (concussion), the Storm should have put Penrith to the sword, given they were already 14-nil up when the Penrith general left the field.

Instead, Penrith’s generation next stood up to keep the premiers in the contest.

Jack Cole had a shaky start with his kicking game but regained his composure to help steer the side around the park.

Young forward Lindsay Smith and Liam Henry never took a backward step throughout the contest.

Liam Henry went blow for blow with the Storm pack. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Rookies Casey McLean and Blaize Talagi, with the help of Mitch Kenny, pulled off a spectacular scrum play to make Melbourne’s defence look amateurish.

The coach will look to his young guns again when his side takes on the Rabbitohs on Thursday night, without Cleary.

Talagi filled in when Cleary came off the field against Melbourne but Brad Schneider is also an option in the halves.

It will be a danger game for the Rabbitohs. Taking a Panthers side without Cleary and star fullback Dylan Edward (groin) lightly will cost the Rabbitohs two points.

ROBSON’S BRAVERY

There is nothing scarier in the game right now than a rampaging Payne Haas barrelling towards you but Cowboys hooker faced that fear head-on on Friday night.

Robson, with little self preservation, put his much smaller body on the line to pull off the biggest try-saving tackle of the year so far.

Despite Robson’s heroics, Friday night belonged to Haas.

The prop was in a destructive mood, finishing with 198 metres, 10 tackle busts, two line breaks, five offloads and a try. There’s been a lot of talk about whether Haas can take his game to the next level.

He clearly has now done so.

If he can keep that form consistently and take into the Origin arena, Haas, who is off contract from November 1, is due for a massive payday.

He will also cement his place as Brisbane’s once-in-a-generation talent, an accolade that had been reserved for fullback Reece Walsh.

Originally published as The Tackle: Touching reason Brisbane Broncos celebrated victory with Xavier Willison’s rat’s tail