Hooker exchange mars NRL preliminary final

Allegations of a derogatory comment from St George Illawarra hooker Dean Young to Wests Tigers rival Robbie Farah marred the Dragons’s NRL preliminary final win on Saturday night.

In an incident which is sure to be investigated by the NRL and take some of the gloss off grand final week, Young and Farah became involved in a heated exchange when the Dragons No.9 was held up over the tryline by Farah in the 20th minute at ANZ Stadium.

Referee Ben Cummins twice offered Farah the opportunity to make an official complaint on the field, offers the fired-up Tigers skipper declined.

Tensions continued to simmer until a scrum minutes later when the pair came together where Farah suggested the comments may have had a racial tone.

The NRL has been blighted by racial slurs in recent years with Cronulla’s Paul Gallen fined and stripped of the club captaincy over a comment aimed at Dragons forward Mickey Paea last year.

Racial remarks made by former Test skipper Andrew Johns also cast a cloud over this year’s State of Origin series.

The NRL match review committee will investigate the incident as part of their normal review process, with any action sure to disrupt the Dragons’ build-up the next week’s decider.

Farah was asked about the incident at the post-match press conference.

“I’ll leave that on the field,” he said.

Pressed about an apparent Young forearm to his head in the same incident, Farah added: “You guys saw that.

“I was on the bottom of it, I wasn’t too happy with it at the time but that didn’t decide the game so I’d rather be talking about the footy.”

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