‘Never heard of that one before.’ Raiders baffled by Young punishment

Canberra officials have questioned if more players will be sin-binned for antagonising opponents after Hudson Young was sanctioned for “stirring up” Brisbane superstar Reece Walsh on Sunday.

The questions from Canberra came hours after Walsh avoided suspension and was fined $3000 for headbutting Young during the 29-28 thriller won by the Broncos.

The fallout from one of the great finals continued on Monday morning when Today host Karl Stevanovic said Walsh had stuck his middle finger up at a section of the GIO Stadium crowd as he came from the field because they had made comments about his young daughter. Canberra CEO Don Furner dismissed those claims as nothing more than “the Broncos’ PR department at work”.

Furner was more perplexed by the decision to sin-bin Young when all he had done was get in Walsh’s face to celebrate a Brisbane error.

“We’re all scratching our heads as to how Hudson Young can get sin-binned for ‘stirring someone up’,” Furner said.

“We also can’t work out how Brisbane received a penalty when Reece Walsh headbutted someone.

“Hudson was told he was binned because he had stirred up Reece. I’ve never heard of that one before. It happens every week. I’d like to know how many more players will be binned if they get in each other’s faces.”

A player like Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo thrives on getting under the skin of rival players, but does he now risk being binned on Saturday night when the Sharks head to Canberra for a semi-final?

The NRL coaches last week they would not tolerate any “unnecessary abuse and aggression”, and wrote in a recent email: “In recent weeks, there have been incidents after an error by a player in possession, an opposition player uses the error as an opportunity to either get in the face of, or stand over the player who made the error in an abusive and aggressive manner, causing a scuffle that other players then join.

“These are incidents the game can do without, and referees have been instructed to act accordingly.”

As the Raiders try to lift again for the Sharks, the Broncos were relieved Walsh avoided a ban. They will also welcome back skipper Adam Reynolds and possibly Ezra Mam for Sunday week’s preliminary final.

But under-rated utility Billy Walters suffered an ACL injury on Sunday, and Pat Carrigan faces a one-game ban for a high tackle on Morgan Smithies.

Payne Haas has been cleared of any serious injury after battling for much of the contest with an ankle complaint.

Walsh told this masthead that Raiders players “were giving it to me all night” and that he thrived on the slanging match that boiled over between him and Young in the second half.

Walsh returned from the sin bin to trigger a stunning Broncos fightback from 28-12 down, engineering three tries in seven minutes before a Ben Hunt field goal secured an incredible win.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart and captain Joe Tapine were both miffed by the fact Walsh wasn’t sent off for his headbutt on Young, with Stuart declaring “they’ve set a precedent now, you’re allowed to headbutt” after full-time.

Smithies himself was charged with the same grade 1 striking charge for a headbutt on Wests Tigers forward Fonua Pole earlier this year, which left the Raiders forward bleeding from the top of his head.

Smithies was trying to free himself from a three-man tackle in that incident, whereas the Walsh and Young fracas came after a dropped ball by the Brisbane star.

As for Carrigan’s hit on Smithies, Broncos coach Michael Maguire said he thought it was a head clash. Carrigan was sin-binned by referee Ashley Klein.

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