Former NZ Warriors and current Canterbury Bulldogs forward Jack Hetherington has been sent off and faces a lengthy ban for a horrendous high shot on North Queensland Cowboys star Valentine Holmes.
In the 55th minute of Sunday's NRL encounter at Townsville, with the Bulldogs down 18-6, Hetherington hit Holmes with a coathanger straight out of the 1980s and left referee Ashley Klein no choice, but to send him from the game entirely.
The shot sent Holmes crashing to the turf and resulted in an all-in fracas between the two sides.
Klein was captured by on-field microphones saying that he thought the incident warranted a sending off, with his fellow officials not trying to convince him otherwise.
Hetherington played six games for the Warriors in 2020, on loan from Penrith Panthers.
In round 13 of 2020, he was placed on report for a dangerous tackle on Manly Sea Eagles prop Martin Tapau and handed a four-week ban as a result.
Hetherington is expected to cop a lengthy ban for the incident, when the NRL's match review committee convene this week.
But despite being a man down, the Bulldogs rallied to score two tries through Kyle Flanagan and Tuipulotu Katoa, and bring the scores back to 24-18, after Jake Granville went over for the Cowboys.
But North Queensland's Mitchell Dunn sealed the victory, scoring in the 78th minute to cement the Cowboys' win 30-18.
Defeat leaves the Bulldogs rooted to the bottom of the NRL ladder, still the only side yet to pick up a victory in 2021.
Join Newshub for live updates of the Warriors v Storm NRL clash from 8:15pm Sunday.
