Klemmer 'lucky' not to be sent; Mahoney, Burton binned: Annesley

NRL head of football Graham Annesley has warned that Wests Tigers prop David Klemmer was lucky not to be sent off for becoming embroiled in a melee after being sent to the sin bin.

Annesley said Bulldogs pair Reed Mahoney and Matt Burton could have also been marched for their roles in the incident as tempers frayed in Saturday's match at Accor Stadium.

Klemmer was sent to the sin bin by referee Kasey Badger for dissent in the 74th minute of Saturday’s match at Accor Stadium as Bulldogs second-rower Viliame Kikau took exception with Wests Tigers prop Alex Seyfarth over a tackle on Jacob Kiraz.

Instead of making his way from the field, Klemmer joined other players from both sides who raced in and grabbed at the back of Mahoney’s jersey as he and Seyfarth engaged in some push and shove before the Tigers interchange forward lunged towards the Bulldogs hooker with a head butt.

Badger and touch judge Drew Oultram both told Klemmer to leave the field but he initially ignored their instructions and Annesley said he could have been sent off, rather than sin binned.

“He could very well have been sent off for getting involved in that, and again, Kasey had to say to him ‘get off the field’, and a touch judge stood beside him and said, ‘you need to leave’,” Annesley said.

“It was only after another delay that he actually left the field, so I think he can consider himself very fortunate [not to have been sent off].”

Former Kangaroos winger Brad Godden suffered such a fate while playing for the Knights in 1994 at Belmore Oval after making a try saving tackle on Bulldogs great Terry Lamb while making his way from the field to the sin bin.

“Klemmer had already been sent to the bin and, as I mentioned, Klemmer can consider himself lucky that it was only a sinbin,” Annesley said.

He also said Mahoney and Burton could have been dispatched to the sin bin for escalating the confrontation between Kikau and Seyfarth by running in to join the melee.

“They both ran into that melee, which escalated it,” Annesley said. “Klemmer was in it as well, and Mahoney and Burton could have both gone to the bin as well, so they can consider themselves lucky.”

Annesley said Wests Tigers halfback Aidan Sezer also should have been sin binned for a dangerous tackle on Canterbury forward Josh Curran.

Sezer has been suspended for four matches after pleading guilty to his fourth judiciary charge since Round 2.

However, Annesley said he was allowed to stay on the field because match officials had only been looking to determine whether he had committed a hip drop tackle.

“I think it should have been a minimum of a sin bin, but not because it was a hip drop,” Annesley said.

“We talk about the grab, the twist and the drop, but it is the body weight falling directly on the limb that makes the hip drop.

“In my view, the Bunker was focused entirely on determining whether it was a hip drop or not.

"They cleared it as a hip drop, they put it on report, but they didn’t pay enough attention to the other dangerous aspect of this tackle.”