Brisbane Broncos star Reece Walsh has found himself at the centre of controversy after becoming the unlikely recipient of a bizarre sin-bin for a hair pull.
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The controversial moment came after Walsh became involved in a scuffle between players from the Broncos and Newcastle Knights.
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Referee Grant Atkins explained the decision to Walsh after sending the Broncos star to the sin-bin.
“It has nothing to do with you. You go in and deliberately pull his hair. He’s on the report for the hair pull,” Atkins said.
Walsh immediately challenged the ruling, but his protest fell on deaf ears as he was marched from the field.
“What do you mean?” Walsh replied.
“He’s grabbed my teammate and hit him in the jersey. How’s that got nothing to do with ya?”
Reece Walsh hair pull.Source: FOX SPORTS
The incident left the Fox League commentary team stunned, with Dan Ginnane questioning whether the game had witnessed a first.
“This is crazy! This is crazy!” Ginnane exclaimed.
“Is that a first?
“We’ve had penalties for hair pulls (but) is that the first sin-bin for a hair pull?
Former NRL halfback Greg Alexander agreed with the decision, believing the circumstances surrounding the incident warranted the sin-bin.
“He’s got himself involved in a scuffle and then hair-pulled,” Alexander said.
“It’s not like you’ve tried to make a tackle and grabbed someone’s hair. It’s a little bit more to that one.”
Knights back-rower Jermaine McEwen was also sent to the sin-bin for escalating the situation.
“I thought it had settled down and then Jermaine McEwen comes rushing in. He could be in some trouble,” Alexander continued.
Reece Walsh speaks to the referee.Source: FOX SPORTS
While it is the first time a player has been sent to the sin-bin for a hair pull, Canberra Raiders star Hudson Young was previously penalised for a similar incident involving Dominic Young earlier in the year.
Young was hit with a Grade One Contrary Conduct charge and was forced to pay a $1000 fine.
“I don’t know what he was really thinking,” former NRL enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves said on Fox League’s Super Saturday.
“He obviously thought he could get away with something cheeky.
“Obviously it was a bit of a brain snap but he got it wrong there.”