In the stands, at pubs and in loungerooms across the country you would have heard people saying that the severity of the injury should not be considered when determining the punishment for a rugby league incident. That Phoenix Crossland did not commit an act with the intention of severely injuring an opponent. That it was a football accident that happened in a moment of desperation, as the Knights scrambled to defend their line. That, however unfortunate the outcome, it was just an unlucky part of what is a brutally physical game.
With the scores locked at 6-6 in 35th minute of the preliminary final, Nathan Cleary was leading a Panthers raid on the Knights' line. Cleary, who was carrying a fracture in his right foot, had only been on the field for 10 minutes, having cautiously started the game on the bench.
The star halfback made a dart through the middle of the ruck where a tackle went horribly wrong with Newcastle hooker Phoenix Crossland landing across the back of his left leg. It was immediately obvious that Cleary was in a lot of pain as players signalled for medical attention. Anyone who caught a glimpse of the close-up winced as the severity of the injury was very clear.
Cleary was treated on the field, placed on a stretcher and lifted onto a medicab, with a green whistle firmly in his mouth as one of the attendees held his foot steady and his lower leg extended. There was a hush over the crowd and several players looked shaken by what had just happened.
Once Cleary was off the field, referee Gerard Sutton called Crossland over, explained what he and the bunker had seen and gave him his marching orders.
Crossland was sent from the field on a charge of dangerous contact, a term covering all sorts of incidents. His apparent lack of intent covered off in the rules by the word "carelessly".
"The offence of Dangerous Contact is constituted by carelessly, recklessly or intentionally making dangerous contact with an opposing player."
The NRL further describes what constitutes a hip drop tackle.
"A hip drop tackle is where a defending player in joining or committing a tackle, drops or uses their own body weight to apply pressure to an opponent's legs in such a way as to constitute an unacceptable risk of injury to the tackled player, this will constitute dangerous contact."
So, how does a referee decide whether the contact posed an unacceptable risk of injury? Well, all objectivity is clearly removed when he looks down and that player's lower leg has an extra angle in it that wasn't previously there. The severity of the injury not being a factor in determining the send off is really only true when a player makes an obviously awful hip drop tackle which miraculously causes no real damage, and he is not sent off. In that case the non-injury should not really be a factor, because the risk was clearly there, with only luck saving him.
If Newcastle had lost the game, many people would be saying that the send off ruined the contest and cost the Knights any chance of victory. But, a similar argument can still be made. Cleary being removed from the field with a compound fracture ruined the contest and cost the Panthers any chance of victory. The Knights being forced to play with 12 players would have been fair compensation for the loss through foul play of just about any of the Panthers. But, Nathan Cleary? To equalise the impact of the Panthers losing Cleary, you would have send two or three Knights off.
The Panthers lost their calming influence, their best player, their attacking direction, their heart and soul, in one careless hip drop tackle.
Crossland didn't deliberately injure Cleary, but his tackle was careless and clearly dangerous. Crossland rightfully won't be playing in next week's Grand Final, after all, neither will Cleary. He'll be at the beginning of a long and painful recovery, hopefully one that enables him to return to the game he both loves and dominates.