Sharks fullback William Kennedy sent off for ‘incredibly dangerous’ tackle on Reece Walsh

Sharks fullback William Kennedy could be facing a lengthy stint on the sidelines after he was sent off for a “coathanger” high shot.

William Kennedy of the Sharks. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Sharks fullback William Kennedy could be facing a lengthy stint on the sidelines after he was sent off for a “coathanger” tackle on Warriors young gun Reece Walsh on Sunday afternoon.

In the 17th minute of Cronulla’s Round 9 contest at PointsBet Stadium, a wrong-footed Kennedy attempted to tackle his rival fullback by sticking out his left arm near the 20m line.

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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.”

After deliberation between on-field officials and the Bunker, Kennedy was sent off, leaving the Sharks reeling with 12 players for the remainder of the contest.

Walsh, to his credit, jumped to his feet straight away and walked away from the incident unharmed, but the referee had little option but to show Kennedy the dressing-room.

William Kennedy of the Sharks tackles Reece Walsh. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“It looked spectacular. The legs went from under him,” Panthers legend Greg Alexander told Fox League.

“That is just the old-fashioned coathanger. He left the ground too, his feet were off the ground.

“You talk about what happened in the game 20 or 30 years ago, you would’ve been sent off for that 20 or 30 years ago.

“Contact was made around the head and he left the ground to make that tackle. That is a send-off offence.”

To rub salt into the wounds, Warriors winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak scored the side’s first try of the match in the set following the high shot.

Kennedy becomes the second player in as many weeks to be sent from the field by the on-field referee.

Manly second-rower Karl Lawton suffered the same fate for laying a spear tackle on South Sydney’s Cameron Murray last weekend — in total, Kennedy is the third player to be sent off during the 2022 season.

Kennedy’s “coathanger” tackle comes almost a year to the day since the NRL’s infamous crackdown on headhigh contact during Magic Round 2021.

Three players, Herman Ese’ese, Josh Papalii and Tyrell Fuimaono, were sent off for high tackles during that weekend.

Will Kennedy sent off, AFB showing him the way to the sidelines 😂#NRLSharksWarriors#NRLpic.twitter.com/G42r8JDkJA

— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) May 8, 2022

Stop doing incredibly dangerous offences if you don’t want to get sent off. Shouldn’t still be on the park and isn’t. Shouldn’t play for a few weeks more either. #nrlpic.twitter.com/nS3DfnTpEO

— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) May 8, 2022

The Sharks held a narrow two-point lead at halftime, but their woes continued after the break with centre Jesse Ramien sent to the sin bin for a high shot on second-rower Euan Aitken.

However, the hosts somehow managed to survive the 10-minute period with 11 players unscathed, with the Warriors guilty of repeated ruck infringements and unforced errors.

A couple of minutes after Ramien rejoined the action, Cronulla’s Connor Tracey scored on the left wing to extend the Sharks lead to 10 points with 13 minutes remaining on the clock.

“I cannot believe what has happened in this second half,” Alexander fumed.

Despite having one less player on the field for most of the match, Cronulla dominated the hapless Warriors in the second half to emerge 29-10 victors.

It was gusty, it was courageous, it was emotional — and it will surely go down as one of the greatestwins in the club’s 55-year history.

“Being a man down, not too many people would have expected us to go on and get the result,” Cronulla captain Wade Graham said after the victory.

“We knew there was a really good opportunity in front of us if we were good enough to take it — and we were.”

The Sharks will next face the Canberra Raiders at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday, May 15, with kick-off scheduled 1.50pm AEST.

— with Adam Lucius, NCA NewsWire