Eels winger Bailey Simonsson could be in hot water with the match review committee after he was sin-binned for a late shot on James Tedesco that ended the Roosters skipper’s night.
The incident in the 24th minute saw Tedesco pass the ball to Daniel Tupou before Simonsson hit Tedesco late and high with his shoulder to the head, which resulted in a sin bin, while the Roosters skipper was eventually ruled out for the rest of the game.
“Tedesco has worn one on the back of that tip on to Tupou,” Warren Smith said.
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“Simonsson has an issue as does James Tedesco. But Bailey Simonsson with that contact may have a big problem.
“It looked like the shoulder made contact certainly with the jaw. Simonsson off the back of that is sent to the sin bin.”
Greg Alexander noted Simonsson ran the risk after charging in to stop the try.
“Simonsson shooting out of the line to shut the play down,” Alexander said.
“He came rushing in and just turned the body sideways.”
Lara Pitt questioned Michael Ennis on the contentious hit at halftime.
“The big news at halftime is that the Roosters skipper James Tedesco has been ruled out of this contest, with Joseph Suaalii moving to fullback, but is Bailey Simonsson in some strife for this hit?” Pitt asked on Fox League.
“He is,” Michael Ennis replied.
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“I really like Bailey. I have coached Bailey at Parramatta and at Canberra and there is just no dirtiness in Bailey at all.
“But he came in and landed with his shoulder and hit James Tedesco in the head and I thought he was lucky not to be sent off to be honest.
“I don’t think there was malice in it, but it was direct contact to the head and with what we have seen, it is something we are trying to stamp out of the game.
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“Obviously he went off for the sin bin and Tedesco won’t return, but I thought Simonsson was lucky to stay on the field.”
Dragons utility Moses Mbye agreed there was no malice, but conceded Simonsson’s tackle went wrong.
“There was no malice in it, but it was one of those ones that has just gone wrong,” Mbye said.
“10 minutes you are not going to jump up and down about it, but on the positive side you get to see Suaalii go back to fullback and geez he had a big first half.”
