Storm vs Dragons: Tyrell Fuimaono sent off for high shot on Ryan Papenhuyzen

Brendan Bradford

Storm vs Dragons: Tyrell Fuimaono sent off for high shot on Ryan Papenhuyzen image

Tyrell Fuimaono has been sent off for a dangerous high shot on Ryan Papenhuyzen which left the Storm fullback lying motionless on the turf at Suncorp Stadium.

The scary incident happened just four minutes after Josh McGuire was sent to the sin bin for a high shot on Justin Olam, reducing the Red V to 11 players. 

As Melbourne went left in a sweeping move early in the tackle count, Papenhuyzen - who was a late inclusion after recovering from a shoulder injury - threw the last pass for Josh Addo-Carr to score in the corner. 

Moments after he passed, Papenhuyzen was hammered in the side of the head by Fuimaono.

Medical staff attended to Papenhuyzen on the field before he was taken off on a medicab. 


The incident is exactly the kind of hit the NRL is attempting to rub out of the game with its crackdown on dangerous contact with the head. 

Papenhuyzen didn't pass his HIA but was cleared of any neck or spinal injuries and didn't need to go to the hospital. 

The superstar fullback must now pass the NRL's head injury protocols before being cleared to play again. The Storm play the Raiders in Canberra on Saturday. 

Fuimaono joined Josh Papalii in being sent off after the Raiders forward hit Bulldogs winger Tuipulotu Katoa on Saturday. 

The send off comes after a busy weekend for the Match Review Committee, with 10 players charged in three matches on Saturday. 

Fuimaono will most likely face a few weeks on the sidelines as well. 

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo made no apologies or excuses for the crackdown on Sunday morning, saying it's an attempt at making the game as safe as possible. 

“We want this game to be relevant, and there’s a certain amount of arrogance or complacency that says as the world changes, we can just do the same thing," Abdo said on The Footy Show. 

“We have one of the fastest, toughest and most entertaining sports in the world, right now we’re just making it safe for our players.”

After 12 sin-binnings in the first five games of the weekend, Channel Nine commentator Gus Gould was dismayed at the attempted tackle.

"You'd think players would've seen enough of it to know better. And McGuire was penalised just a few moments earlier." 

"It's incomprehensible that a player would come up with a hit like that at this stage of the weekend." 

 

Brendan Bradford