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0 UPDATED: The NRL’s match review committee has not charged Panthers star Taylan May for a head clash that he was penalised for on Thursday.
May rushed out of the defensive line to put a hit on Reece Walsh early in the contest. The pair clashed heads, resulting in Walsh suffering a facial fracture.
May was bizarrely penalised by referee Gerard Sutton but allowed to stay on the field, and now the MRC has confirmed there was no foul play.
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League legends were split on the decision to penalise and May.
Post-match, both coaches indicated they thought the hit was an accident – Ivan Cleary said as much while Kevin Walters said he “didn’t see too much in it” and described it as “one of those things that can happen”.
On the Wide World of Sports desk, Brad Fittler and Paul Gallen also agreed the hit was an accident, but broke into debate over the penalty decision.
Sutton told Isaah Yeo that May had a “duty of care to bend to make a tackle and he doesn’t bend”.
“When you come in on someone’s blindside, you are responsible … to tackle below their shoulders,” Fittler explained.
“I know it’s an accident, but you are totally responsible because you can see.”
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Gallen said May couldn’t control what Walsh did or where he runs or steps, to which Fittler pointed out May can still control how high he tackles.
After some back-and-forth, Johnathan Thurston said May wasn’t in a position to make a traditional tackle.
“You can tell, he’s not even brought in for the tackle, he’s jumped up and braced … when you come in (blindside) you’ve gotta lower your target.”
But Gallen scoffed.
“It’s a pure accident. He hit him in the head. It’s a pure accident – it happens. It’s a contact sport. Things happen. Get on with it.”
Fittler said he believes May will only cop a fine, given there was “no intent”.
Coach Cleary said in his press conference he believed May was trying to pull out of the tackle.
“If he had have bent down – which the bunker was suggesting he should have – he would’ve hit him in the head with his shoulder, which is not what we want,” Cleary said.
“Reece Walsh moves pretty fast and these things happen.”
Nine’s Danika Mason reported the bleeding was so bad doctors couldn’t perform the HIA for the first 10 minutes of the compulsory 15-minute window.
“They spent that time trying to stitch him up. He then passed his head injury assessment and came back out on to the field to test out his eye,” Mason reported.
“He was just doing some casual passing in front of us on the sideline and kept on missing the ball, to which the doctor just said, ‘no, no, there’s no way he’ll be back tonight’.”
