Toyota Cowboys coach Paul Green has expressed his surprise that North Queensland did not receive a penalty from the tackle that left back-rower Tariq Sims with a broken nose late in Saturday night’s clash with the NZ Warriors.
Sims had split two Warriors defenders 10 metres out and was heading for the tryline when he was stopped and then held up by a combination of five-eighth Chad Townsend, fullback Sam Tomkins and winger Manu Vatuvei.
An on-field decision of “no try” from referee Ashley Klein was confirmed after the video referees viewed several replays of the incident which left Sims bleeding from a break on the bridge of his nose.
The replays show that Tomkins appears to hit Sims high as he comes in to tackle the back-rower on the tryline.
It came at a crucial time in the match with the Cowboys down 20-12 with 10 minutes remaining but with the Warriors under enormous pressure after conceding a try to Michael Morgan in the 66th minute.
“He got a few stiches and a broken nose. It was an interesting decision to rule knock-on on that occasion,” Green said.
“You can clearly see a bit of contact to his head so I thought we might have been a chance of getting the ball back there, but it wasn’t the way the game panned out.
“You just want some consistency.
“I think there were some tough calls that went against us which I’m happy to cop as long as we get a couple go our way.
“I just want to make sure that happens.”
The coach today named an unchanged squad of 17 to face the Gold Coast Titans on Monday night.
