Murray Taulagi blasted for ‘absolute stupidity’ in NRL thriller

An NRL star has been blasted after risking it all with the game in the balance, delivering an absolute ‘brain explosion’ in Townsville.

Murray Taulagi puts a late hit on Dane Gagai during the Cowboys-Knights fixture in Townsville.

Murray Taulagi risked the Cowboys’ game against the Knights for a brainfade of epic proportions, sending the NRL world into meltdown.

The Cowboys winger came at Knights star Dane Gagai in the 48th minute, who looked to offload to young recruit Dominic Young inside.

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Despite the play not being at particularly high speed, Taulagi decided to keep going at Gagai long after the play had moved on, knocking him over on his rear and earning a straightforward sin bin.

The sin bin would allow Kalyn Ponga to set up Young for a try and draw the Knights level in a tight game.

"Add 5 minutes for stupidity"

Taulagi is off to the sin bin.

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Shane Flanagan on Fox League called it a “stupid tackle”, while Brent Tate called it a “brain explosion”.

Social media hammered the 24-year-old’s baffling decision.

One Twitter user called it “needless”, saying it “cost his side 10 points while in the bin.”

“That’s dumb from Taulagi. Really just low IQ football,” said another.

“Absolutely brain dead move by Murray Taulagi - so hard to support moves like that,” said another Twitter user.

Taulagi managed to get away with it in the end, with Todd Payten’s men escaping in a thriller in Townsville, 18-16.

How does Feldt do it?

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Valentine Holmes and Scott Drinkwater starred for the Cowboys, with Holmes finding Kyle Feldt in the corner for a magnificent finish to give North Queensland the lead early.

Drinkwater ran for 216 metres with two try assists in a strong return to form,

Newcastle were buoyed by the successful return of Kalyn Ponga, playing his 100th NRL game off the bench, with the Knights starting Tyson Gamble at five-eighth.

The Cowboys’ win takes them to 3-5 after eight games, and keeps their season alive after looking strong in 2022 and having a disappointing start to the year so far.

Dominic Young was strong for the Knights. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Coach Todd Payten called his side’s performance “brave” in the post-match press conference.

“We played with 12 men again (temporarily) and we only used 15 players so it was a really brave performance to grind out a gritty win,” Payten said.

“It wasn’t always pretty but the effort and sacrifice for each other is still there and we got away with a much-needed win.

“You could see in those last two or three minutes they threw a lot at us with (Lachie) Miller and Kalyn (Ponga) and a couple of offloads...and we came up with the scraps.”

Knights coach Adam O’Brien lamented his side’s discipline and error-proneness in defeat.

“There’s way too many errors in our game at the moment,” O’Brien said.

“It’s good getting pats on the back for effort...but it can’t be enough, we have to want more.

“We have to execute better, I thought we were really sloppy with the ball in the first half, we didn’t mount any press. We have to hold each other to a higher standard.”