‘It’s not careless’: Warriors star’s sin binning under fire as legend’s slam ‘questionable’ call

A trio of rugby league legends have placed the microscope on Warriors star Dylan Walker’s sin binning, questioning if the lock should have been given his marching orders.

In the 37th minute of New Zealand’s clash with the Dolphins, Walker and teammate Jazz Tevaga tackled prop Mark Nicholls who folded awkwardly before staying down.

The Dolphins enforcer was dazed whilst on the ground and replays showed Walker’s shoulder had accidentally made contact with Nicholl’s head.

Initially commentators Steve Roach and Andrew Voss feared the veteran had suffered a knee injury, however he was instead taken from the field for a HIA.

Walker was then given his marching orders, shocking Warriors skipper Mitch Barnett and sparking a frustrated comment from league legend Greg Alexander.

“Over the last couple of weeks, and I’m all for protecting players and what we’ve been doing with concussions, but there has been some tackles over the last few weeks where I’ve seen no head contact,” Alexander said.

“The player being tackled doesn’t even realise he has been hit in the head, there’s no force in it, I saw a couple last weekend, a couple this weekend.

“The contact there from Dylan Walker, questionable. But does he deserve to go to the bin for that?”

Alexander also pointed to another instance from Round 23, with Bulldogs flyer Josh Addo-Carr being penalised for a tackle that was perceived to be high.

“I saw one last night where I shook my head. Josh Addo-Carr grabbed (his opponent) by the shoulder, but because he fell spectacularly, because he dragged him backwards,” he said.

“Everyone said ‘head shot’ but it showed on the replays, not a touch of the head, nothing.”

Meanwhile, both Cooper Cronk and Braith Anasta echoed Alexander’s opinion questioning whether Walker’s tackle was deserving of a 10-minute sideline stint.

“It’s not careless, there’s not force there, is it ten in the bin? I don’t think it is,” Anasta said.

Cronk added: “He’s gone for a HIA assessment, it probably doesn’t deserve 10 in the bin… it is shoulder contact to the head.”