“I’ve never had a reaction like that in a game, and even though it was accidental, it was dirty,” Hamlin-Ulay said from the shed.
“I know him [Nanai] Didn’t want to go out and hurt me, but he did.
Jeremiah Nanai struggled off the pitch after his conviction at the PointsBet Stadium.Credit: getty
“And he’s got to accept the fact that it’s dirty. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did, and I apologize for that part, but it’s one of those things that’s hard to judge.
“I feel the punishment now should be proportionate to the offence. I’ll leave that up to the match review committee.
“I did hear a thud. I didn’t react like I used to because it was a fake injury. I’m wearing braces now.”
Cowboys coach Todd Petten defended Nanai saying, “I don’t think he had a lot of contact on the back of his leg. I thought his butt and hip was away from the back of his leg.
“You just have to live with it and miss the tackles – it’s better to miss than risk being suspended for a few weeks”
Braden Hamlin-Uller
“Braden jumps up and throws the ball at him quickly, so he mustn’t be too bad at first.”
Hamlin-Uele said there’s no shame in giving up a tackle if it means avoiding doing damage to an opponent.
“As a player, you know if you’re going to do a hip drop and feel like you’re wobbling,” he said.
Loading
“You just have to suck it up and miss a tackle – it’s better to miss a tackle than risk being suspended for a few weeks.”
While Hamlin-Uele faces an absence, Cronulla will welcome inspirational striker Dale Finucane back from suspension next week – with a hip tackle.
Cronulla superstar Nico Hines was at a loss to come up with a solution to the game’s latest woes, saying: “You don’t like to see players sent out 10 times, but you also don’t like to see players miss out. football because of [a bad tackler].
“Bradon may miss the game now. At the moment, some of them don’t even need to be punished. This is not just for our team, but across the board… I don’t know what the answer is.”
Live stream NRL Premiership 2023, live stream for free 9 now.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Subscribe to our sports newsletter.
