Rugby league great Greg Alexander was left stunned by an “outrageous” decision to send NSW Blues star Brian To’o to the sin bin in a controversial moment in the State of Origin series opener at Suncorp Stadium.
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The incident in the 40th minute of the first half of the Blues’ 18-6 win over Queensland on Wednesday — when NSW were leading 14-0 — saw To’o leap for the ball, before appearing to hold Queensland counterpart Xavier Coates in the air when he was outjumped by the taller man.
Coates spilled the ball and the Bunker ruled that To’o was going for the man and not the ball. The Maroons wanted a penalty try but To’o was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul.
Alexander did not hold back on criticising the call.
“That will go down as the worst (decision I’ve seen),” Alexander said.
“We really need to do something about this rule. That is outrageous. That is ridiculous. It is the worst thing I have ever seen.
“He gets monstered by a taller player. What else can he do? He has eyes only on the ball.
“Once again slow motion ruins everything. Slow motion makes it look like he actually thought about what he was doing.
“He was going for the ball but got beaten by a bigger man over the top. He stood his ground. That’s all he did.
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“This rule has reared its head during the NRL. It is a disgrace. They need to look at it. We didn’t bring that rule in for that reason.”
Phil Gould agreed with Alexander that it wasn’t worthy of a sin bin.
“I think it’s a ridiculous exaggeration of the mid-air tackle rule there in the in-goal,” Gould said on Channel 9.
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“They’re fighting for the ball in the possession.
“I think that’s a ridiculous interpretation of the rule. And it’s not a sin bin in an Origin match.”
Queensland great Darren Lockyer also doubted the sin bin call.
“I thought he was a little bit hard done by it,” Lockyer said.
“A professional foul is something you do deliberately. I think that was an instinctive reaction.”
