Broncos gun Kotoni Staggs is facing two games on the sideline after an ugly moment in his side’s loss to the Roosters labelled a “brain explosion” by Kevin Walters.
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The incident occured in the 70th minute with Brisbane trailing 30-24, but Staggs was given his marching orders after lifting his elbow and striking his opposite man Hugo Savala.
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At the time, the Broncos had scored four tries in-a-row, with Reece Walsh, Xavier Willison, Patrick Carrigan and Jordan Riki finding the try line.
Staggs was placed on report by referee Adam Gee and has been hit with a two-game ban with an early guilty plea.
NRL great Cooper Cronk called out the ill discipline from Staggs,
“It was unnecessary, he is in trouble. He might have to borrow Jared’s (Waerea-Hargreaves) car park at the judiciary because he might have to take the acceptance,” Cronk said.
“That wasn’t needed, there was no need for him to fall down with the elbow on the back of a player’s head. I dare say he will be in some trouble.”
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Roosters legend Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, meanwhile, agreed with his former teammate.
“When I first saw it I didn’t think too much of it until the replay,” Waerea-Hargreaves said.
“Yes he did come down with some force on Hugo’s head there with his forearm, it doesn’t look good. He obviously got it wrong like a lot of us have.”
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Michael Maguire played down the influence of Staggs’ omission from the closing stages of the clash.
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However, he did hint that had the Broncos not given the Roosters a one-man advantage, his side could have continued their charge and won.
“I have to have a look at the incident, but who knows… I definitely felt the way the players are playing at the moment, and the spirit of the group, they were a big chance,” Maguire said.
“Just obviously a bit too far with what we gave up in the first half, giving a team 24 points because I know when the team are on, they know how to get around the park.”
Broncos skipper Pat Carrigan also said the incident was his fault after he “made an error down in a good ball set”.
“Loose carry, put us on the back. It’s just the pressure of the game, Kotoni plays aggressive and I know he wouldn’t have meant to do any harm,” Carrigan said.
“To be honest I didn’t see it until after the game… he made a mistake, I’m sure he will own that. But I love when he’s playing aggressive.”
Maguire later opened up on the Broncos’ injury toll with Adam Reynolds forced off the field
Tom Duffy looks set to come into the side to face Manly next week after the veteran halfback’s head slammed into the turn as he tried to make a tackle.
“He came in a couple of weeks ago and showed what he’s capable of. I thought he went out there today and steered the team around,” Maguire said.
Maguire said injured stars like Payne Haas and Ben Hunt wouldn’t be back next week, with wingers Josiah Karapani (ankle) and Deine Mariner (cork) also in serious doubt.
Mariner had to leave the field in the first half but returned later in the game when Karapani got his foot trapped in a tackle.
“Deine probably shouldn’t have gone back out, but that’s what they’re doing for each other,” Maguire said, proud of how his team fought back from 30-0 down to get within six points.
“I could talk about many other players, but that’s what the competition is demanding of you at the moment. Deine, straight away he jumped up and out he went. So they’re competing really hard for each other. We just needed to be smarter.”
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