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NRL pundits SLAM Taane Milne for brutal hit on Spencer Leniu, while Gorden Tallis and Andrew Johns claim swinging tackles have been banned in rugby leagues for over 40 years: ‘Is that the WORST shot you’ve ever seen?’
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NRL pundits criticized Taane Milne for a ‘shocking’ tackle after the Rabbitohs winger became the first player to be sent off for 28 years in a final game for a high shot at Panthers prop Spencer Leniu.
With the Bunnies trailing 24-12 and 20 minutes to go in the Preliminary Final against the reigning Prime Ministers, Leniu burst through the Souths defense to the try-line as Milne came in.
But instead of trying to get the Panthers forward, Milne waved a left arm at him wildly, making Leniu blush.
Taane Milne was sent off on Saturday in South Sydney’s 32-12 loss to Penrith
The incident sparked a brawl that briefly threatened to escalate, before referee Ashley Klein intervened to restore some calm and send Milne away.
When the Rabbitohs winger walked back to the barns, Leniu also left the field for an assessment of his head injury and the two had to be separated.
Commenting on the game for Fox League, former rugby league great Steve Roach joked that Milne’s swinging blow was ‘an old-fashioned stiff arm’, but there was little sympathy for the 27-year-old elsewhere.
‘Is that the worst shot you’ve ever seen? That was a shocking tackle,” Braith Anasta told Fox League.
Milne collected Panthers prop Spencer Leniu flush in the face with a swinging arm
Leniu had to undergo a head injury assessment after being startled by a brutal blow
Gorden Tallis and Andrew Johns were even more blunt in their assessment, claiming tackles like Milne’s had no place in the modern game.
“That tackle was banned in 1980,” the former Queensland great player told Fox League.
‘If he [Milne] says he doesn’t think so [about the implications of the tackle] is even worse.’
Speaking on Nine, Johns added: ‘He’s lucky he didn’t break his arm the way he hit it’ […] that’s a 1970s farewell.” while New South Wales boss Brad Fittler called it “totally careless and reckless.”
Milne became the first player in 28 years to be sent off in a final game
Milne was twice thrown into sin two weeks ago in a brutal elimination final against the Sydney Roosters, an ill-tempered match that saw a total of seven yellow cards.
After the game, former Broncos great Corey Parker said Milne’s tendency to walk on a disciplinary tightrope was hurting the Bunnies.
“It’s an area of Taane Milne’s game that he must eradicate, he must put away, two weeks earlier he was twice put in the sin box and sent out of here,” he said.
“When you play with someone like that, it puts so much pressure on your team, behind that it becomes very difficult.”