NRL news 2023: Tackle that ended season of Penrith’s Taylan May sparks outrage

A young star’s season is over before it even began after a tackle where his legs were attacked - the NRL says there is no need for further action. It’s not good enough, writes Fatima Kdouh.

Taylan May online art ACL injury.

The third-man-in tackles might not be illegal but it sure as hell is dangerous, and it’s time the NRL re-examines its approach and for referees to penalise suspect-looking incidents.

How many young stars have to be maimed by a dangerous tackle before the governing body takes serious action?

Penrith winger Taylan May’s season is over after suffering an ACL injury in last weekend’s World Club Challenge when St Helens forward Agnatius Paasi attacked his legs while he was being held by two other defenders.

Remarkably though, match review committee boss Luke Patten cleared Paasi of a hip-drop tackle, declaring the key indicators of a hip-drop tackle were not there.

Of course they weren’t. It wasn’t a hip-drop tackle.

Taylan May is tackled during the World Club Challenge.

May’s knee buckles awkwardly.

It resembled another blight on the game, a cannonball tackle, but it supposedly didn’t fit that criteria either, according to the MRC.

But still, here is May, facing a lengthy recovery for an injury that could have been avoided if the third man in does not intervene.

May was already contained by two other St Helens defenders and beginning to fall.

Privately, the Panthers are fuming at the lack of action by the NRL’s match review committee.

They should be.

Not one, but two governing bodies cleared Paasi of any wrongdoing.

Scans reveal worse than expected news for Taylan May, with a ruptured ACL ruling him out for the season. Contact mechanism obviously causing significant enough medial collapse of the knee. Will undergo reconstruction surgery & associated 9 month recovery time. pic.twitter.com/VkYM1aIYNy

— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) February 20, 2023

It comes less than a week since Parramatta winger Haze Dunster’s emotional plea for the NRL to eradicate the hip-drop tackle.

Dunster hasn’t played in 12 months, since his ACL, MCL and PCL in his knee were ruptured after a hip-drop tackle from St George Illawarra’s Tyrell Fuimaono, also in a trial match.

Fuimaono was suspended for five matches. Dunster is yet to return to the field.

Now May joins him. Caused by the kind of tackles that end seasons, and keeps our stars sidelined.

The outrage over May’s injury has also been muted.

May will miss the entire 2023 season for the Panthers. Picture: NRL Photos

Imagine the outcry if it had been the game’s current golden boy and reigning Dally M Medallist, Nicho Hynes, or even closer to home for Penrith, Nathan Cleary, facing the same fate as May?

Remember, May is the same star that had a two-match ban delayed so that the game would not be robbed of its best talent in the finals series, after he was found guilty of assault.

Now, the game, and Penrith, have been robbed of that talent for an entire season.

Originally published as NRL news 2023: Tackle that ended season of Penrith’s Taylan May sparks outrage