NRL world divided after Eels gun cops huge ban for ‘really low act’

Eels enforcer Reagan Campbell-Gillard has been blasted for his “really low act” that will likely see him spend a month on the sideline.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 16: Reagan Campbell-Gillard of the Eels looks on during the round 20 NRL match between Parramatta Eels and Gold Coast Titans at CommBank Stadium on July 16, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Eels enforcer Reagan Campbell-Gillard has been blasted over an alleged “really low act” that will likely see him spend a month on the sideline.

Campbell-Gillard was binned for sliding his the knees into the back of Titans’ hooker Chris Randall in an incident even Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has conceded was “sloppy and lazy”.

The Kangaroos and Blues star was charged with grade three dangerous contact and since it was his third and subsequent offence he is looking at a lengthy spell.

Campbell-Gillard facing at least four games on the sideline with the early plea and five if he fights the charge and is unsuccessful.

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“Low act. Really low act, nothing accidental about it. He went in with his knees to the back. He should have been sent off for sure,” Phil Rothfield said on NRL 360.

“In the 80s you’d get sent off for that, knees to the back.”

“It was clumsy, you wouldn’t like it. I wouldn’t have liked it happening to me but I don’t think there’s too much malice in there. I think he was just trying to get down there,” Gorden Tallis responded.

Brent Read said a sin bin and three weeks was sufficient and also defended Campbell-Gillard’s character but Braith Anasta said that was irrelevant.

“He’s not that sort of player, that’s not his style so I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he instinctively went down like that because perhaps he didn’t expect things to play out like that,” Read said.

Regan Campbell-Gillard of the Eels. Getty Images

“I don’t think he meant it, but it was avoidable. But it’s irrelevant whether he meant it or not, it was bad. As much as he’s a great guy, it was lazy and he probably should have been sent,” Anasta said.

Arthur blamed himself for not bringing RCG off earlier after backing up from Origin but still conceded it was a “sloppy, lazy and clumsy effort”.

Gold Coast skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Dolphins forward Jarrod Wallace are both facing three-game bans for shoulder charges, but the panel wasn’t convinced with charging the former.

“I couldn’t see three weeks in that. There must be a crackdown because Wallace has been done as well,” Anasta said.

“It was a shoulder charge and you only need a Grade 1 shoulder charge to get three weeks,” Rothfield responded.

“His arm is away from his body, it wasn’t the old tuck it up,” Tallis said.

Originally published as NRL world divided after Eels gun cops huge ban for ‘really low act’