Brisbane Broncos star Pat Carrigan has been referred directly to the NRL judiciary after an ugly hip drop tackle in his side’s 32-18 upset loss to the Wests Tigers.
The loss means the Broncos missed a chance to jump back into the top four but there may be a bigger headache for the side.
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The Tigers’ Jackson Hastings was left limping from the field in the 73rd minute after Carrigan performed the much-maligned hip drop tackle.
It saw the Tigers lock bent back over Carrigan and twisting his ankle underneath.
It was confirmed Hastings had suffered a broken fibula, the Sydney Morning Herald’s Michael Chammas reported.
Nine News reporter Mark Gottlieb reported Carrigan said: “I just hope he’s alright” in an interview for this evening.
Post-match, Tigers interim coach Brett Kimmorley called the hip drop “horrendous”.
“I thought the tackle was a pretty ordinary tackle,” Kimmorley said.
“It is something that has crept into the game a little bit and it needs to be looked after, because it’s a horrendous tackle and the outcome can be really bad.”
Broncos coach Kevin Walters played the incident down however, calling it a “heat of the battle thing”.
“I don’t know if he snapped his ankle,” Walters said.
“We will let the match review committee look at that. He is obviously on report.
“But knowing Pat Carrigan, a person of his character I wouldn’t have thought there was anything intentional there. It is just in the heat of the battle.”
But the NRL agreed with the Tigers, referring the incident directly to the judiciary, which is generally reserved for the most serious incidents.
For the commentators, it was not a good look.
“That is a hip drop tackle where he just puts his body weight on the back ankle of Hastings,” Michael Ennis said on Fox League.
“It is not a good one from Carrigan.”
Greg Alexander agreed, saying: “I think he is in some hot water.
“It is a hip drop. He swung his body around and landed on the back of the ankle there of Hastings.
“Unfortunately for Hastings the players over the top twisted him backwards so it all worked against him.
“But Patrick Carrigan certainly played his part and that was a hip drop there is no two ways about it.”
It had been a breakout season for Carrigan, after he won the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the State of Origin series in his debut year.
Originally published as Broncos’ Pat Carrigan breaks rivals leg in ‘horrendous’ tackle
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