Garrick played on, but was in pain after landing on his back. The Warriors went up the other side of the field and scored moments later to seal the victory. After the match, coach Seibold erupted in the press conference and took aim at the NRL.
“It was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous. That’s a penalty every day of the week,” Seibold said post-match. “The rule says it’s not because the ball bounced, or it wasn’t a kick, but how many times do we pull a tackle up for a slight crusher, give a penalty?
“Or someone slipping up from the chest to the jaw and it’s a penalty? Like fair dinkum, let’s be serious. We go two points up with six minutes to go there.
“(Instead), they get the ball back, Reuben can’t run. We make a poor defensive error but our fullback can’t run and we’re saying it’s not a dangerous tackle. It was a dangerous tackle. He was injured. He couldn’t finish the game. And it’s our season on the line so I am pissed off about it.”
NRL world erupts over Manly’s Rueben Garrick drama
NRL fans were similar with many in disbelief the game, which has moved to protect players, would allow a rule for a player with the ball to be tackled in mid-air. Many called for an immediate change to the rules.
Garrick was the first to react and jumped up into the air to take the huge bounce first. But instead of hesitating, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad charged into Garrick and took out his legs. The Manly player landed on his back as he lost control of the ball.
Many expected a penalty to be blown for dangerous play. However, the ruling states that if a ball has bounced, it is not illegal to tackle a player in mid-air. Since the tackle didn’t make head-high contact, it was play on.
