Cowboys player Josh McGuire sent off after verbal tirade at NRL referee

An NRL star was given his marching orders after giving the referee a piece of his mind in the early minutes of a Sunday encounter.

Josh McGuire was sent from the field for a verbal outburst.

The Melbourne Storm took control of the contest after the North Queensland Cowboys scored the opening try of the game.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow stunned the Storm with a try in the corner, but from there it became one-way traffic for the Storm as they secured the 36-20 victory.

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Shortly after taking the lead however things started going downhill for the Cowboys with serial antagonist Josh McGuire sent from the field by the referee.

As the Cowboys held possession, the referee stopped played and pointed out McGuire and held up 10 fingers and citing dissent.

Match official Grant Atkins was picked up by microphones saying: “I’m not going to repeat what you said, but you can go.”

McGuire walked from the field and spent 10 minutes in the sin bin with the Queenland Maroons player believed to have hurled abuse at Atkins.

😯10 IN THE BIN!😯

McGuire has been shown the ten digits very early on in the game.

STREAM: https://t.co/sZc0oYV6ek#9WWOS #NRL #NRLStormCowboys pic.twitter.com/mUGD09oKPo

— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) September 13, 2020

Down a man, the Cowboys defence fell apart as the Storm strolled across the line over and over again.

Four unanswered tries closed out the first half as the Storm entered the sheds holding the 24-4 advantage.

But it was the Cowboys’ lacklustre defensive efforts that continually drew the ire of fans and those in the commentary booth.

A Tino Faasuamaleaui try under the posts left one Fox League commentator to proclaim: “That’s as easy as it gets, it’s the simplest try I think I’ve seen in 40 years”.

Josh Addo-Carr make a mockery of the defensive line when he busted several tackles before streaking away to pile on the punishment.

There's no stopping the Foxx 🦊#NRLStormCowboys #TelstraPremiership pic.twitter.com/fL4Wr6eyeJ

— NRL (@NRL) September 13, 2020

The Cowboys were exposed once again just before the half time break when Cameron Munster walked through a hole the size of the Grand Canyon.

How soft was that! My 81 year old mother could've scored that! #NRLstormcowboys @storm @nthqldcowboys #NRL

— Bernie Coen (@berniecoen) September 13, 2020

The Cowboys found some life in the second half, but only managed to outscore the Storm 16-12.

A victory for the Storm locks them into a top two spot on the ladder and becomes their 11th straight win over the Cowboys.