Sharks fullback William Kennedy banned for three weeks for ‘incredibly dangerous’ tackle on Reece Walsh

A couple of ugly high shots have ended with big bans for two Cronulla players.

William Kennedy tackles Reece Walsh high. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Sharks fullback William Kennedy has been given a three-week suspension after being sent off for a “coathanger” tackle on Warriors young gun Reece Walsh on Sunday afternoon.

Kennedy attempted to tackle his rival fullback by sticking out his left arm near the 20m line in the 17th minute of their clash at PointsBet Stadium and was marched from the field.

His arm wrapped around Walsh’s neck at speed, and the 19-year-old hit the deck – Kennedy immediately apologised for the tackle and referee Todd Smith called the game to a halt.

“Oh my goodness,” Fox League commentator Andrew Voss exclaimed.

Smith told the bunker: “I don’t really like it.”

Referee Todd Smith sends William Kennedy off. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The NRL match review committee charged Kennedy with a careless high tackle and gave him a three-match ban, which could be reduced to two with an early guilty plea.

Cronulla captain Wade Graham said Kennedy made an ill-timed tackle.

“He’s come up as a defender and got beaten a little on the inside – he hung out an arm. It’s never a nice feeling,” Graham said.

“You feel like you let everyone down, but we’ll get around him and he’ll bounce back. On a positive note we rallied and got the result despite that.

“He can keep his head up and move on.”

Despite the high shot, Walsh jumped to his feet straight away and walked away from the incident unharmed. But Kennedy was suspended nonetheless.

Kennedy’s Cronulla teammate Jesse Ramien has been hit with an ever longer ban – four weeks – for his high tackle on the Warriors’ Euan Aitken in the second half of the tough encounter at Shark Park.

Ramien, who could take a three week suspension with an early guilty plea, was also sin-binned but Cronulla still managed to win 29-10.