Experts stunned as Bunny escapes bin for blatant high shot… before Cowboys rookie marched

Commentators and fans were baffled by a passage of play at Hunter Stadium on Friday night which seriously robbed North Queensland and handed South Sydney a clear advantage.

Referee Matt Cecchin and his NRL bunker officials chose to let Rabbitohs forward Liam Knight remain on the field, despite whacking young Cowboys halfback Tom Dearden high and late after a kick in play.

It looked like a clear sin-bin offence, particularly given the game’s crackdown on high contact in recent weeks.

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If that wasn’t bad enough, referee Cecchin then burned the Cowboys again when he marched rookie Heilum Luki from the field for collecting Rabbitohs youngster Peter Mamouzelos high in a tackle.

The Fox League panel could hardly believe it, with former NRL prop James Graham calling the back-to-back decisions “game changing” despite the Bunnies winning comfortably, 46-18 in the end.

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Cowboys coach Todd Payten believed Knight deserved to be penalised, an possibly binned, but admitted it likely wouldn’t have changed the result.

“I saw the ref pointed at it. I’ve seen it penalised before,” Payten said.

“Next set we roll down the field and Heilum gets penalised and sent to the bin… if he penalises that it’s a different ball game. I’m not saying the result is anything different, but it’s a different ball game.

“Tom is a tough little competitor, which is what we like about him.”

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