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Brad Fittler lashes out over length of Patrick Carrigan suspension

NSW coach Brad Fittler (pictured right) during a press conference and (pictured left) the Broncos players making a takle.
NSW coach Brad Fittler (pictured right) has taken aim at the NRL for their 'light' suspension of Patrick Carrigan after his hip-drop tackle (pictured left) on Jackson Hastings. (Images: Channel Nine/Getty Images)

NSW coach Brad Fittler has taken aim at the 'light' punishment handed down to Queensland star Patrick Carrigan after his hip-drop tackle that broke Jackson Hastings' leg.

Carrigan received a four-week ban for his dangerous tackle on Tigers lock Hastings after he grabbed his opponent by the hips and dropped to the ground, landing with his full weight on Hastings' ankle.

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Hastings has been ruled out for the season with a fractured leg, which saw the Tigers star leave the field in agony.

However Carrigan will be back a week before the finals after the NRL judiciary banned him for four games.

Speaking on Wednesday, Fittler took aim at what he perceived as a 'light' sentence for such a dangerous tackle.

"The only way to get rid of those tackles is to suspend the people further," Fittler told Nine's Wide World of Sports radio.

"It's a practised action. It's about grabbing the hips, putting weight on the knees and ankles and collapsing those joints.

"And in this particular instance, Jackson Hastings broke his leg.

"So what this kind of tackle is designed to do is collapse the people's legs underneath them, so I feel like he got off very lightly. It's a crap tackle."

Jackson Hastings, pictured here after suffering a broken leg in the tackle.
Jackson Hastings suffered a broken leg in the tackle. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

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Fittler also took aim at Brisbane Broncos coach Kevin Walters for his comments around the hip-drop tackle.

Walters denied the suggestion players were coached to perform hip-drop tackles like Carrigan's on Hastings as "nonsense".

However, Fittler said tackles that are aimed to stop the ball-runner in his tracks are talked about at training.

"It's the ones that are practised - (like) the chicken wing - they're all designed around the joints and putting them into positions that immobilises them and stops their movement," the Blues mentor said.

"I can understand from a point of view of it's beneficial to make a tackle, but they're dangerous. When you're playing with these parts of their body, for instance on the weekend, you broke a bloke's leg.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 30: Patrick Carrigan of the Broncos passes the ball during the round 20 NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium, on July 30, 2022, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 30: Patrick Carrigan of the Broncos passes the ball during the round 20 NRL match between the Brisbane Broncos and the Wests Tigers at Suncorp Stadium, on July 30, 2022, in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

"Maybe every now and again you get caught in that position and sometimes things happen because people are moving in tackles.

"But there's those ones where they sit behind and pull them down ... and obviously it's been going on for a while because a lot of players do it.

"Patrick Carrigan's not the only bloke doing it, but I think this should be the last one because the next one should go for longer."

with AAP

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