The Cronulla prop who has become the latest victim of a hip-drop faces at least a month on the sidelines after a tackle he described as “dirty”.
Braden Hamlin-Uele, the Sharks front-rower who coach Craig Fitzgibbon nominated as a contender for the inaugural Paul Green Medal following Thursday’s 44-6 win over the Cowboys, failed to finish the game.
He needed a couple of trainers to assist him from the field after his left knee was trapped by North Queensland’s Origin representative Jeremiah Nanai.
Hamlin-Uele was so upset he jumped to his feet and pegged the ball at Nanai and exchanged words.
Cronulla medicos feared Hamlin-Uele had suffered a grade-two medical cruciate ligament strain, with scans on Friday to reveal more.
Hamlin-Uele was far from impressed with the tackle, and said players needed to start being comfortable with potentially missing tackles rather than following through and causing potential injury and suspensions.
Braden Hamlin-Uele was on crutches after Cronulla’s big win.Credit: Getty
Nanai is expected to become the 15th player charged with a hip-drop offence this season alone. Depending on the grading of his charge, he could risk missing Origin.
The match review committee has the option of increasing the grading of a charge if a player suffers a serious injury.
“I haven’t reacted that way ever in a game, and as accidental as it was, it was dirty,” Hamlin-Uele said in the sheds.
“I know he [Nanai] doesn’t want to go out there and injure me, but he did.
Jeremiah Nanai trudges from the field after being sin-binned at PointsBet Stadium.Credit: Getty
“And he has to accept the fact it was dirty. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, and I apologise for that part of it, but it’s one of those hard ones to judge.
“I feel like the punishment should fit the crime now. I’ll leave that one to the match review committee.
“I did hear a pop. I didn’t react the way I did because it was a fake injury. I’m in a brace now.”
Cowboys coach Todd Payten defended Nanai and said: “I didn’t think he made a great deal of contact with the back of his leg. I thought his arse and hips were away from the back of his leg.
‘You just have to suck it up and miss the tackle — it’s better to miss a tackle than risk a few weeks’ suspension’
Braden Hamlin-Uele
“And Braden jumped up quickly to throw the ball at him, so he must not have been too bad, initially.”
Hamlin-Uele said there was no shame in dropping off tackles if it meant avoiding injury to a rival.
“As a player, you know if you’re about to do a hip-drop and will feel yourself swing around,” he said.
“You just have to suck it up and miss the tackle — it’s better to miss a tackle than risk a few weeks’ suspension.”
While Hamlin-Uele faces a stint on the sidelines, Cronulla will next week welcome back inspirational forward Dale Finucane from suspension — for a hip-drop tackle.
Cronulla superstar Nicho Hynes was at a loss to come up with a solution to the latest blight on the game, and said: “You don’t like seeing players get sent for 10, but you also don’t like seeing players miss footy because of [a bad tackler].
“Braden might miss games now. Some of them at the moment don’t even warrant a penalty, and that’s not just teams against us, it’s across the board … I don’t know what the answer is.”
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