State of Origin Game 2 was reduced to 11 on 11 for ten minutes, after four players were sent off for brawling after a mêlée in the 52nd minute of the game.
The brawl erupted after niggle crept into the game following an altercation between Mitchell Pearce and Billy Slater.
Pearce appeared to be struck by a Billy Slater elbow following a hard tackle, which left Pearce’s face bleeding.
Slater was placed on report, but just a few short tackles later, the Blues held on late in the tackle. Tackler Paul Gallen was pushed away aggressively by Brent Tate, and while Gallen turned to the referee to appeal in the background, Trent Merrin rushed in throwing punches at Tate.
Greg Bird and Justin Hodges rushed in to join the brawl, before more players from both sides poured in, some looking to find square-ups, some to pull the offenders away.
Referees Shayne Hayne and Ashley Klein were advised by the video referee, and sin-binned Maroons Brent Tate and Justin Hodges (for ‘coming in’ to a fight), while the Blues’ Trent Merrin (who threw a punch) and Greg Bird (who protested he didn’t throw a punch) were also binned for ten minutes.
The controversial refereeing decisions generated strong reactions from the 51,690 fans at the ground, and on social media.
Watch the incident, here.
[roar_cat_gal]
Bigjohn
Guest
You must drink at the Central.... the best fights used to be beside the bakery , after a dance at the Shire Hall. I would have liked to see the result of Merrin punching any of the Daisy boys from the Isa. ( Famously tough football family for those who do not know the great north west ) The only thing that would have beaten Merrin to the hospital would have been the front of the ambulance.
woodenbong
Guest
Yep, seen more action in me local on Friday in Cloncurry
woodenbong
Guest
I could not agree more, bring back the Grasshopper,lol
woodenbong
Guest
The reality of all this is, 1. Brent Tate would beat Merrin senseless in a one on one fight and didn't deserve to be KING HIT, if it happened in a pub he would have his head bashed in for it and 2. Gallen is as slow as a wet week and proved he cant hit either, why NSW try the biff is bound me, they should stick to playing Rugby League.
up in the north
Guest
And anyway I've seen more violence at a MYER stocktake sale. If that was an all in brawl. ?????! How times have changed! We are still rubbish for game 3.
up in the north
Guest
Is this where I get to say I told you so. How pissweak are the refs? Back in the day you didn't notice the ref, if he had a good game. But now they influence the outcome to such an extent it borders on corrupt.
TriangleFlatDog
Guest
Lol....seems that way!
fishes
Guest
The referees made the mistake of NOT putting Gallen in the bin in Game 1, they have doubled the errors by sin binning Bird and Tate, who didn’t even throw punches. Seriously, David Smith’s position should be seriously looked at. He is not managing the game properly
fishes
Guest
Maybe they should sin bin the crowd, too, for watching the fight. That's the way the game is headed.
TriangleFlatDog
Guest
I would have loved to have seen every player on the field throwing a punch.....then all sinbinned.........51000+ people at the ground would have had to ammuse themselves for 10 minutes!
TriangleFlatDog
Guest
The only thing Merrin did wrong was that he didn't hit Tate hard enough!
Rosco1970
Guest
Well said - I was at the match. The difference in the play of the ball initially seemed to be that QLD we trying to get up quick to avoid a penalty - NSW used ALL of their time. Unfortunately, for QLD, that meant that if they ever went a bit longer, they would be penalised - even though the timing was not different to NSW. Obviously, Merrin rightly got sent off - I have no issues with Tate having a crack back after the cheap shot he copped, but Hodges came in with a swinging arm too, which deserved 10 mins as well. As for Bird, I don't get why he had to go.
bully
Guest
It was a joke and its not just Vautin and Lewis it is the majority of life long rugby league fans. If you yourself were in fact a true fan you would not carry on all the time about what needs to be changed in our great game.
bully
Guest
I agree and im a NSW fan but the referees were poor and there was a clear difference in the two ref's and the ammount of time they allowed them to lay in the tackle. It was a KING HIT from merrin unlike gallen and should have been the only one in the bin.
oikee
Guest
I cant wait to see Blocker Roach'es opinion on all this, probably blame Nate Myles. hehe. I think i seen Nate use his head again last night, to tackle this time instead of Gallens punching bag.
mushi
Guest
What kind of weak coward are you that you feel sucker punching someone is backing up your mate. There was no fight, Gallen was in no danger, Tate was picking up the ball.
Rosco1970
Guest
Correct, if a previous infringement from Gallen had not been committed, he was way too slow to get off the player with the ball. As mentioned several times, if the refs were consistent, they should have blown a penalty before Tate had to move the 'dirt' himself
Rosco1970
Guest
Yep, clear as mud. Did you miss the indiscreet punch thrown at 6 seconds ? ...and then seriously expect Tate to just stand there and allow that to happen. As for the 29 second punches, I see an arm swinging, who's it is, who knows. If you listen to the reasons given for the sin bin, Tate was not given 10 for throwing punches, unbelievably, it was for 'coming in' to a fight - go figure
You can do it.
Guest
Deadset.. if NSW fail to win this series after the last minute re-scheduling to get 2 home games, these new rules invented to protect Gallen,, the same ref reinstated after the first game.. And on top of that the new rules that were invented to protect NSW from a square-up being reinterpreted on the spot to include sending off a QLDer for getting punched in the head!! If they cant win this one I dont think they ever will. They certainly dont deserve such preferential treatment. The old blues stalwarts must be disgusted!
nrlking
Guest
are you serious? this is the game of league how can you even speak such nonsense :S