League legend Brad Fittler called out Cronulla for sideline “shenanigans” as the Sharks were caught red-handed cheating the concussion rules.
The NRL allows a free substitute for player who is concussed as a result of foul play.
Manly backrower Haumole Olakau’atu was sin-binned following a Sharks try at PontsBet Stadium, for an incident that happened a few tackles earlier.
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He had put a big hit on Sharks forward Aiden Tolman. The tackle was initially let go by the officials as play continued.
The Bunker reviewed it and Olakau’atu was put on report and binned. It looked on replays like he didn’t even touch the head.
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“I think everyone in the stadium knew it was a big tackle, but it didn’t look illegal in any way,” Andrew Johns said.
Following the sin-binning, Brad Fittler noticed the Sharks blatantly exploited the concussion substitute.
Tolman came to the sideline and was subbed off for free, not costing his team an interchange, as the NRL rules allow. Andrew Fifita came on in his place.
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But Tolman immediately subbed back on so teammate Cameron McInnes could come off for a breather, and Tolman stayed on.
“We just saw a little abuse of the rules there,” Fittler said.
“A free interchange, some shenanigans on the sideline. You’ve got to love coaches, don’t you?”.
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