'That is nasty': NRL star's 'ugly' hit sparks huge backlash

Knights forward Mitch Barnett has been sent directly to the NRL Judiciary and faced a barrage of criticism after an ugly forearm hit saw him become the first Newcastle player to be sent off in nearly 10 years.

Penrith forward Chris Smith failed a HIA and didn't finish the game after Barnett caught him with a completely unneccesary high shot after Smith ran a decoy route.

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The 27-year-old was almost immediately given his marching orders by referee Peter Gough, the first Knights players to be sent off since 2013, when Kade Snowden was sent packing.

The incident capped an ugly 38-20 loss to the ladder leading Panthers, who entered the game without superstar Nathan Cleary.

Barnett's high shot was quickly condemned, with Panthers coach Ivan Cleary baffled as to why he had made such a play, describing it as 'out of character'.

"Once I saw what happened, and (Smith) was holding his jaw. I was very worried," Cleary said.

"From what I've seen of Mitch Barnett, it was out of character. I don't know what happened there."

Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai wasn't so sympathetic after Barnett was sent back to the Knights bench..

"Well deserved," Luai said.

"We have to get it out of game. I wasn't sure if it was intentional or not."

Fans and commentators immediately tipped a lengthy spell on the sidelines for Barnett, particularly after Smith failed his HIA.

Fox Sports commentator Steve Roach, no stranger to the rough stuff during his playing days, was dismayed to see the return of such a thuggish play.

"That's a bad one. He'll be sitting on the sidelines for a fair while," the former Test prop said.

"That'll be hard to defend, that one."

Newcastle will have to rebound against Cronulla in Friday night's first match without not only Barnett but fellow back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon.

The Knights also have judiciary concerns over Chris Randall and Jacob Saifiti after they were placed on report for crusher tackles on Saturday.

NRL fans fume over Mitch Barnett's hit on Chris Smith

While Barnett had some sympathy from Cleary during the post-game, many other NRL figures was much less forgiving.

Amid the barrage of criticism he faced from several former NRL players, most simply couldn't understand why Barnett had raised his elbow to a player who had just about come to a complete stop, and wasn't in any position to be a part of the play.

Fox Sports' Warren Smith labelled the move 'as cheap as it gets' in commentary for the match.

“Chris Smith has almost come to a halt on his run and Barnett has all sorts of problems," he said.

"Right on the chin as well or to the throat of Chris Smith, who had pretty much come to a complete stop.

"That is nasty. What an absolute brain explosion, as cheap as it gets.”

Barnett also faced criticism from recently retired greats Cooper Cronk and Benji Marshall, both of whom predicted a lengthy stint on the sidelines for the 27-year-old.

Knights coach Adam O'Brien was unwilling to buy into the commentary, saying after the match that the judiciary's decision would speak for itself, and that it was the club's job to rally around their player.

“I can’t talk about it. It’s going to the judiciary, so we will leave it," O'Brien said.

“I tell you what Mitch doesn’t need, me coming out and kicking him publicly.

“He’s part of our family and we will deal with it behind closed doors.

“There’s no one feeling any worse than Mitch at the moment.

“We will deal with it during the week. He doesn’t need me kicking into him right now, he needs the support of his teammates.

“The angles were hard to see, it took a long time to see it. I haven’t had a good look, so I can’t talk about it.”

With AAP

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