‘Should have been sent off’: NRL great calls for harsh high tackle penalty

The NRL has addressed criticism of the concussion sub rule after one week but one league great has called for it to go even further.

Munster was fine but it left Radley in the sin bin.

An ugly high tackle has almost seen the first concussion sub in the NRL after Victor Radley hit Cameron Munster with a swinging arm in the clash between the Storm and the Roosters.

The premiership heavyweights played out a 4-0 first half with Melbourne kicking two penalty goals before running away with the result in the second half for a 20-4 win.

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But the first half incident sparked a discussion over the severity of the penalty for Radley.

The referees have been told to be more strict with their interpretations after the first week of the 18th man concussion sub drew criticism.

Concussions have wreaked havoc this season with club left with next to no one on the bench in crazy scenes that saw the rule brought into the competition.

The new rule states that there have to be three players fail HIA tests for the 18th man to be triggered, or be the victim of foul play that sees the offender sin binned or sent off.

Radley hit Storm star Cameron Munster as he was coming across in defence, hanging an arm out and leaving Munster seemingly dazed on the ground.

The referee quickly gave Radley 10 in the bin with Michael Ennis calling it “lazy” and “high”.

Radley did not miss.

The commentators quickly believed it would be worth a trip to the bin but for Fox League’s Corey Parker, that almost wasn’t enough.

“From first look watching it live, I thought Munster was out,” he said at halftime. “I said straight away ‘it’s a send off’.

“Munster, I don’t know if there was a bit of acting in there but certainly it was a high shot, it warranted 10 in the bin but if Munster laid there any longer, I have no doubt Radley should have been sent off.”

Braith Anasta was happy with the action taken however.

“I think it was the right call, Corey,” Anasta said. “They got it right, he paid the price. Radley was being aggressive and got caught off balance and swinging that arm out. It’s been a tough and physical game.”

After the game, Rooster coach Trent Robinson criticised the call with Munster going off the field but coming straight back on without a HIA.

“He got 10 in the bin because, was he knocked out?” Robinson said. “And he comes on 30 seconds later. So we get 10 in the bin and it looks like a guy who’s got knocked out from that. Should it be 10 in the bin? That’s up to the refs to explain that.”

Anasta said he was confused by the moment as well with Munster seemingly knocked out.

“If he (Munster) gets knocked out and goes off the field, then the 10 minutes in the bin is warranted for Radley,” Anasta said. “But he didn’t go off for a HIA and yet Radley still got 10 minutes in the bin. So it’s a bit of grey area.”

Tallis said that if Radley knocked Munster out that it’s a “send off offence”.

Parker softened his previous stance, adding that it probably didn’t warrant a sin bin.

But Tallis said: “Yeah, he hit him high. It’s not about how hard you hit them, it’s where you hit them.”

Anasta added that Robinson asked a fair question as “Munster seemed like he was injured and didn’t go off”.

Munster played out the remainder of the game.

It’d been a brutal clash at AAMI Park with Storm fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen putting his body on the line to save a try but was left sprawled on the turf after running into a flying Josh Morris, who knocked on in the process of scoring a try.

Morris appeared to have grounded the ball but only after he dropped the ball into the back of Storm winger George Jennings for a knock on.

But after two penalty goals were all that were scored in the first half, the Storm ran away with it in the second half, running out to a 20-0 lead before the Roosters broke their duck with the final play of the game.