Was Jack Wighton’s tackle a hip drop? Wayne Bennett certainly didn’t think so

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett was straight to the point when asked about a controversial Jack Wighton hip-drop tackle.

“I think anybody who has ever been in rugby league will not agree that was a hip-drop tackle,” Bennett said.

Jack Wighton is penalised and put on report for an alleged hip drop tackle on Scott Drinkwater.Credit: Fox

“What was he supposed to do, touch him and let him run to the tryline? Because that’s where he was heading.

“It was a tackle from behind, it was as simple as that. It was no more than that. It was a really good tackle.”

South Sydney led 10-6 when Wighton thought he had produced a genuine try-saving tackle on North Queensland fullback Scott Drinkwater just metres out from the tryline.

Drinkwater spilled the ball, but the bunker reviewed the incident, then ruled Wighton had executed a hip-drop tackle from behind. He was penalised and placed on report, but spared 10 minutes in the bin.

Rabbitohs centre Jack Wighton.Credit: Getty Images

Wighton landed on Drinkwater’s legs, but there was not much else he could do, and it was hard to see where there was any unnecessary risk of injury to the tackled player.

Back in round three, when Jye Gray was placed on report for a hip-drop tackle, Bennett said he was unsure what one was.

You can only imagine his frustrations while sitting high up in the box at Perth’s Optus Stadium on Saturday evening when Wighton was belatedly pinged.

The Bunnies went from leading 10-6 to conceding three tries in nine minutes to trail 22-10, before they lost 24-16.

Souths still had time to win the game, and pushed hard for the leveller in the final five minutes before a Sean Keppie high shot gifted the Cowboys a late penalty goal.

Latrell Mitchell’s booming left boot kept getting the Rabbitohs out of trouble early in the second half as they found it hard to make metres.

Mitchell played his first game at five-eighth, and while he lacked those barnstorming runs from fullback – and even at left centre – his kicking game was equally effective.

Souths had only dropped one game heading into the Cowboys clash in Perth, and will lose no admirers heading into the epic Good Friday battle against table-toppers Canterbury.

Cody Walker is an outside chance to return from a hamstring injury. You could make an argument to keep Walker and Mitchell in the halves, and plonk Jayden Sullivan back to the bench where he is more effective. Bennett said Mitchell will retain the No.6 if Walker runs out of time.

Latrell Mitchell in action.Credit: Getty Images

Souths scored the first try through Euan Aitken when Mitchell did well to hold the ball up and draw a couple of defenders.

Winger Isaiah Tass had a tough first half, which featured a couple of knock-ons deep in Souths’ half, while his opposite Murray Taulagi steamrolled over the top of him for a try.

The Cowboys somehow led 6-4 at the break, but Drinkwater told Fox Sports as he came from the field at half-time: “It’s terrible. We made a lot of errors at the end of our sets and last tackle options … we haven’t been on the money. It feels really flat out there, not much energy. It’s good we’re in the lead, but we’ve got to come out in the second half and lift our energy.”

The Cowboys completed at less than 65 per cent in the first half, but Souths were unable to punish them for their mistakes.

Reece Robson’s NSW Origin credentials were questioned before kick-off, but he stood tall, running for an astonishing 100m by half-time.

Souths fullback Jye Gray still ran for north of 200m, an outstanding performance when you consider he was denied the chance to return the ball in broken play because of the Cowboys’ handling errors early in the game.

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