Eels centre Michael Jennings says he is lucky he didn't suffer the same fate as Brisbane hooker Andrew McCullough from a stray Adam Blair tackle and described another act of foul play by lock Josh McGuire in the same game as a 'low' act that has no place in rugby league.
Last Friday's thrilling but spiteful clash, won 28-14 by the Eels, has seen plenty of fallout.
Parramatta forward Kenny Edwards picked up a contrary conduct fine for his 37th-minute shot on a prone Jonus Pearson, which sparked a melee. In the 79th minute Josh McGuire was spotted stamping on the ankle of Eels skipper Tim Mannah after Mannah was tackled.
In between a low, driving Adam Blair tackle aimed at stopping a breakaway Jennings instead saw the prop careen into the knee of teammate McCullough, causing season-ending ACL and MCL injuries.
"That's dirty play and you can see he's intentionally trying to tread on his ankle," Jennings said of McGuire's effort on Mannah, a close mate of Jennings since the pair's junior days.
"It's good that no-one got hurt out of it but with those intentions, you don't need that in our game.
"I don't intentionally go out to injure someone else. That's just low, I couldn't think of anything worse than to try and hurt someone else."
Many fans on social media shared vision of the McGuire incident after the game, noting Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett's criticism of the Edwards shot as not being a good look for the game.
Jennings also brought up the Blair incident, expressing his relief that his own season wasn't ended in similar fashion to McCullough's.
"I'm lucky that I didn't come out of that [Blair] tackle with a bad knee," Jennings said.
"Adam Blair went straight for my knees and he's taken his own player out. I'm glad I came out of that with just a cork but it's sad to see that his own teammate's been injured from that tackle.
"I don't think most players intentionally go out there to hurt people. I certainly don't but we really don't need that in our game. It's low, it's dirty.
"I was just thinking about when I got tackled, when Andrew McCullough did his knee, I was thinking that could have been me. He went straight for the legs and I was thinking I could have come out of that worse than McCullough but he's got the short end of the straw which is pretty sad."
It sets the scene for an explosive return bout when the Broncos host the Eels in Round 25, just a month after last Friday's encounter.
