‘That’s ridiculous’: Debate rages over hip drop drama as Bronco wins sin bin ‘lottery’
Debate around the hip drop tackle has once again reared its head, with several controversial decisions overshadowing the Broncos’ latest win.
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The Brisbane Broncos defeated Parramatta 26-16 in Darwin on Friday night to move four points clear on top of the NRL ladder midway through Round 8.
The Broncos dominated the opening 40 minutes to take a 22-6 lead into halftime, before the Eels fought back in a second half that was overshadowed by more ‘hip drop’ tackle drama.
Parramatta’s J’maine Hopgood was sent to the sin bin for a supposed hip drop tackle on Brisbane’s Cory Paix.
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Shortly after, Ezra Mam took Eels backrower Matt Doorey to ground and the Broncos five-eighth was also sin binned for a hip drop tackle.
But later in the game, Broncos enforcer Payne Haas escaped the same fate when he landed on the legs of Eels forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard, who suffered a serious groin injury in the tackle.
Many commentators believed Haas’ tackle was the most dangerous tackle of the lot but referee Ashley Klein opted not to send him to the sin bin, which would have seen the Broncos down to 11 men against Parramatta’s full side of 13 players.
“That is remarkable and honestly hard to believe given what we saw barely 60 seconds ago,” Fox League Commentator Warren Smith said.
“Payne Haas has won the lottery.”
“He should have been sent to the sin bin,” Steve Roach said.
“I thought that was the worst of the three of them.”
Viewers were particularly perplexed by the call to sin bin J’maine Hopgood.
“Come on, that’s ridiculous. He’s on his side, he’s on his hip,” Panthers great Ryan Girdler said on Triple M.
“That’s not the on field officials. That’s the guys in the box with way too much time on their hands, looking at every single play.”
Dan Ginnane said: “We’ve got a problem in our game. We’re playing the injury and not the tackle. That’s a shocking call.
“That’s what makes it unforgivable. They’ve seen replays and yet they still determine that’s 10 in the bin.”
Manly forward Aaron Woods said: “That is not 10 in the bin. That is a disgrace.
“I just don’t know what they’re looking for. You get penalised for just losing your legs.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie described Hopgood’s sin binning as “another embarrassment to our game.”
Eels coach Brad Arthur said he wasn’t an expert on hip drop tackles, but Fox League’s commentators argued tacklers who jump up so their feet leave the ground, placing pressure on the ball carrier, put themselves at risk of being sin binned.
While the Broncos are sitting pretty on top of the table, Parramatta’s season is nearly at a crossroads after three wins from eight games.
Last year’s grand finalists will have their work cut out for them, with Campbell-Gillard set to spend several weeks on the sideline with injury.
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Originally published as ‘That’s ridiculous’: Debate rages over hip drop drama as Bronco wins sin bin ‘lottery’
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