Raiders coach Ricky Stuart was gobsmacked that Hudson Young was sent to the sin bin for what he described as a push on Kalyn Ponga in a tirade against the decision.
Young was sent to the sin bin for a “moment of madness”, smashing Knights fullback Kalyn Ponga late in an ugly tackle.
The NSW enforcer’s shoulder crashed into Ponga’s head midway through the first half, flooring the Dally M Medallist after he’d passed the ball to Tyson Gamble.
Initially, it looked as if Ponga had orchestrated an impressive four-pointer but it was called back after an obstruction from Tyson Frizell.
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But upon review, Young’s act of foul play was discovered and referee Todd Smith gave him his marching orders, labelling the incident “totally unnecessary”.
Both commentators Greg Alexander and Warren Smith were both confused by Young’s actions, with local fans giving him a piece of their mind on his way off.
“A moment of madness there from Hudson Young, totally unnecessary… looks much worse in slow motion,” Alexander said.
“He hits him pretty after the missed tackle from Jordan Rapana but there’s no need for it.”
“Young goes to the sin bin for the contact and gets a fair serve from the home crowd on the way out,” Smith said.
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Stuart took aim at the decision in his post match press conference.
“Well what was the sin-binning for, pushing?” Stuart said.
“The buzz word is discretionary isn’t it? So it was a discretionary decision.
“But he shouldn’t have even been… I mean yeah penalise him. But if we are going to start penalising people for that we are going to be playing a lot of games with 12.
“But if that is a sin-binning offence and that is a week off then it has got to be consistent every week and every game, but it won’t be.
“And that’s not having a crack at anyone. The referees have got a very difficult job. But I don’t believe that is a sin-binning offence.”
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