Unless it's intentional, steer clear of the sin bin.
That's the message from Moses Mbye and Corey Thompson, who didn't believe Kalyn Ponga's hit on Michael Chee Kam warranted the Knights superstar being sent to the sin bin.
Ponga did not appear to intentionally make contact with Chee Kam – who has been cleared of serious injury in the days since – and as a fellow fullback, Thompson sympathised with the Queensland Origin star.
"I dont think Kalyn launched into his jaw on purpose. Its weird. You see stuff like that in every single game," Thompson said.
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"I dont know if theyre trying to make a statement or what but you saw the Broncos player [Tevita Pangai Jr] get sent for 10 as well from the contact to the head.
"I know it was an accident and he didnt mean to [do that]. If they decide to start sending people off for 10 for accidental contact, Im not sure what were doing."
Kalyn Ponga was sent to the sin bin in controversial fashion.Credit:AAP
Thompson believes a penalty would have been sufficient punishment for the hit and Mbye is on the same page.
"I dont think it warranted a sin bin. It is so hard. You have to ask yourself what you expect him to do there if you were in that position," Mbye said.
"He certainly meant no malice by it.
"It was unfortunate, the result of the tackle, but on the flip side Chee is alright. Thats a good thing as well."
Mbye urged officials to only send players from the field for intentional acts which hold malice, rather than incidents such as Ponga's.
Though he also sympathised with referees, who are forced to split hairs in determining whether a hit such as Ponga's was intentional or not to begin with.
"If there is intention to cause malice I think [the sin bin] can be used but accidental things … at the end of the day it is a brutal game, its a contact sport and things will go wrong. They do go wrong. Theyve been going wrong for a long time. That is just what you are going to get every now and then," Mbye said.
"Then there is obviously an argument … what do you deem intentional? Its one for someone out of my pay bracket to sort out.
"The game is cracking down on a few things that they waRead More – Source
