Souths captain Cam Murray was sin binned for a eerily similar high shot to the one which saw Bulldogs star Stephen Crichton controversially avoid ten in the bin on Friday night.
During South Sydney’s game against the Knights, Murray was the third man in on a tackle of Tyson Frizell, contacting the Newcastle star in the head with his bicep.
Frizell left the field and was subsequently ruled out of the game after failing a HIA.
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Initially, Murray’s hit only resulted in a Knights penalty, much to the bewilderment of the Fox League commentary team.
“He was held up and then Murray came in at the back end. It will be no question a penalty. We’ll wait and see if there will be anything more added to that,” Warren Smith said.
“The way he came in as the third or fourth man into the tackle there and still made contact with the head.
“He’s on report and it won’t be anymore than that. I’ve got to say, that’s a surprise given the drama in Auckland yesterday.
“I love how the Bunker can judge the force of the tackle. Tyson Frizell is going off the field for a HIA while Cam Murray stays on the field.”
However the Bunker, perhaps fearing further backlash after Friday night’s faux pas, changed their mind after another look at the replay and directed referee Chris Butler to give Murray his marching orders.
“It’s direct contact with moderate force and there’s no mitigation so you’re going to the bin,” Butler said to Murray.
“Have they changed their mind here? This is incredible,” Smith reacted on Fox League.
“Second time around, the Bunker’s had a rethink. Maybe somebody in the Bunker said ‘were you not watching what happened last night’.
“It had to be a sin bin. Why was that not obvious to the Bunker first up?
“When you come in as late as Murray did. He had anywhere from his bootlaces to his shoulders to hit him, but he made contact to the head.”
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“I’m not sure how to comment what we’re seeing over the last couple of games. It’s been mind-boggling,” Corey Parker added.
Crichton was offered a one-match ban for his high shot on Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, which forced the Warriors veteran off the field where he failed a HIA.
Strangely, despite Crichton not attempting to wrap his arms up in the tackle and collecting Tuivasa-Sheck flush in the head, the Bulldogs skipper was allowed to stay on the field.
Had he been binned, the Bulldogs would have been down a man and trailing 18-16 at a critical juncture in the second half, but instead they scored the next three tries to win 34-18.
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