NRL legend Greg ‘Brandy’ Alexander didn’t hold back in his assessment of Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs utility Kurt Mann’s ugly tackle in his side’s 22-18 win over the Parramatta Eels.
With the game hanging in the balance and Parramatta holding an eight-point lead, Mann was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate crusher tackle, a decision that threatened to derail the Bulldogs’ chances of a result.
The Bulldogs' massive improvement defensively spurred them to keep the Eels scoreless in that ten-minute period and would eventually lay the platform for a famous late winner.
Kurt Mann goes to the Sin Bin for this crusher tackle.
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Despite the positivity surrounding the result and performance from the Bulldogs, Alexander revealed his true thoughts on the ugly incident.
“There was a nasty incident yesterday, you mentioned the ten minutes (in the bin) for Kurt Mann,” Alexander told SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“That is the worst crusher (tackle) I’ve seen in a number of years.
“That was the tackle, that, exactly what Kurt Mann did by picking up a player then putting all his weight on the back of the neck of that player, is exactly the reason that rule was brought in.
“We have crushers now where players fall into tackles and accidentally (have) their heads bent forward because of the weight and just the way the tackle spins around.”
The NRL first started its crackdown on crusher tackles towards the end of the 2019 season and since then it’s become an incredibly sight to see an intentional challenge from a defender.
“We don’t see intentional crushers anymore but we saw one yesterday and that’s why Kurt Mann was sin binned yesterday and that’s why he’s facing two weeks on the sideline,” Alexander added.
“Which I guess is the disappointing part of yesterday’s win from the Dogs.”
Mann is set for a two-week stint on the sidelines if he takes the early guilty plea from the NRL judiciary.