'He’s in a bit of strife': Broncos prop Flegler facing suspension after being put on report four times

Kevin Walters has blasted his side’s lack of discipline after Thomas Flegler was put on report four times in their defeat to the Warriors.

What was a horrendous afternoon for the Brisbane Broncos will likely to get even worse after they lost two to injury and in the process of going down 20-6 against the New Zealand Warriors.

Thomas Flegler will likely face a ban for one of the incidents, a hip drop in the second half, though might escape without suspension for the other citations.

Jazz Tavaga was also put on report for a cannonball tackle that saw Pat Carrigan leave the game with a suspected MCL tear. Albert Kelly also departed nursing a foot injury.

Kevin Walters said he had not seen any of the incidents again and therefore couldn’t comment but accepted that Flegler was likely to be in hot water.

“He’s on report and it’s not a great look for him or the club, but we’ll have a look at each of them individually and then get back to it on Monday,” said Walters.

“He’s clearly in a fair bit of strife with four charges. That’s never good for anyone.

“He lives on the edge of the footy field, he’s that type of player. It’s his first game back, he’s looking for so much more and he’s bitterly disappointed.

“We have to see where he’s at because he’s not the sort of player to go out and want to hurt people. He plays tough and he’s physical, but it’s nothing personal with anyone.”

Warriors coach Nathan Brown, who also had his player Jazz Tavaga put on report for a cannonball tackle, also said that he had not seen the incidents but fired back at the Broncos’ complaints over Carrigan’s injury.

“They should be careful to criticise as they had a few things themselves they did, didn’t they?” he said.

“I won’t be getting in any slanging match or having a go at anyone, it was a hard game, a few blokes might have got a few things wrong but I don’t think people were going out there to deliberately to get it wrong.”

Walters was downbeat on his team’s performance, both in terms of discipline – Jake Turpin was also binned for a professional foul – and with ball in hand.

“I’m still getting my head around what unfolded,” said the Broncos coach.

“We’re disappointed. The first half was pretty costly for us and we tried to grind our way back in and it didn’t happen.

“It’s hard to get confidence when you continually turn the ball over, particularly in our half.

“It opens the door for the opposition to build pressure and that’s exactly what the Warriors did.

“They built scoreboard pressure on us. We’ve got to be better there.

“That’s something I think can easily be fixed, by holding onto the ball.

“Sooner or later, the penny has to drop. Last week we did a hundred more tackles than the opposition and I’d say it’s the same today.

“You get sick of tackling. These blokes continue to tackle and it’s not fun. The penny has to drop.

“It’s not just our drops, it’s ill discipline too. Penalties are letting teams out of their own half and stopping us building pressure.

“Our discipline is letting us down at the moment more than our ability.”

The Warriors got the win with ease in the end. Jesse Arthars – ironically on loan from the Broncos – went over twice in the first half, with Marcelo Montoya grabbing the third.

Adam Reynolds was the only Broncos to score via a smart kick and chase for himself.

The second half was tryless, with the only scoring coming as Reece Walsh punished Brisbane indiscipline via penalty goals.

Ennis rails against refs for ’embarrassing’ Flegler sin bin

Michael Ennis railed against the decision to bin Thomas Flegler in Fox League’s halftime coverage.

Flegler was sat down for ten minutes after a late shot on Addin Fonua-Blake and penalised for a cannonball tackle on Josh Curran in the same move – and it didn’t go down well with the Fox League commentary team.

“Flegler didn’t deserve to go to the sin bin. There was a conversation with the ref where he said the multiple infringements are why he’s gone to the bin,” said Ennis.

“The contact with Fonua-Blake is embarrassing. They’re two big guys in the middle, he cannot leave Fonua-Blake defensively there.

“He even has duty of care to try and hold him up. He hits him, which you’re entitled to do, and tries to catch him and hold him up.

“The next one, the cannonball tackle, I hate them and the bad ones are really bad. But he comes in around the hips The dangerous one is around the knees. There’s nothing wrong with that.

“He’s not broken any rules, it’s not even a penalty.”