Cameras captured the second Luai approached Salmon as he was signing a ball to seemingly criticise the bench second-rower a few mistake in the course of the 13-12 at Penrith Stadium.
Salmon, 24, instantly bit again on the 26-year-old playmaker earlier than a verbal altercation ensued between the 2 teammates.
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Different teammates then stepped in to dam the TV cameras and inform the gamers to calm down earlier than Luai and Salmon ultimately went their separate methods.
Talking in Channel 9’s post-match protection, NRL nice Paul Gallen insisted he had completely no downside with the incident and that it merely exhibits the gamers each care concerning the end result.
“There’s no concern. It’s rugby league, mate,” Gallen instructed 9.
“I perceive we like it as a result of we’re a part of the media, we wish to speak about it, we wish to create hysteria about it, however it’s rugby league, it’s a brutal sport.
“These guys compete for a residing, it’s what they do, they’re so aggressive, testosterone-fuelled blokes which are skilled to compete on each single play for 80 minutes of the sport.
“When one thing doesn’t go proper they wish to know why and so they have a dialogue about it. Who cares?”
Gallen in contrast the post-match incident to a heated battle between Dragons teammates following their dismal efficiency within the Charity Defend towards the Rabbitohs two weeks in the past.
In that occasion winger Mikaele Ravalawa and prop Zane Musgrove engaged in a bodily altercation at 6am the morning after the 42-24 loss in Mudgee.
“It’s simply a part of the sport. Let’s simply get on with it,” Gallen argued.
“It means they care, it means they care.
“If I’m a Panthers fan, I don’t thoughts it. Perhaps initially you assume, ‘OK’. However they care concerning the end result, they care concerning the sport.”
Fellow NRL nice Johnathan Thurston backed up Gal’s evaluation, saying it was doubtless a case of Luai calling Salmon out for not being within the appropriate place for a play.
“They’ve excelled the final two years, they’ve performed good footy nearly each time, so when somebody misses their task you wish to know why you weren’t there,” Thurston stated.
“I believe it’s simply half and parcel of rugby league. You will have these conversations, you’re males, when you have got these conversations you bury it and then you definitely simply transfer on.”
The Panthers have now misplaced their final two outings together with a 13-12 loss to St Helens within the World Membership Problem final week.
They have been noticeably clunky towards the Broncos, clearly lacking the spark of Api Koroisau and Viliame Kikau who each left the membership following final 12 months’s grand ultimate victory.
“It’s seemed a bit of predictable, it’s been a bit of sluggish from Penrith and there’s little question in any respect they’re lacking Api Koroisau’s craftiness across the dummy half space and definitely Viliame Kikau’s presence out on that left hand facet,” Fox League professional Michael Ennis stated.
“They’ve missed Koroisau, who has been one of many elite dummy halves for therefore lengthy, however Soni Luke’s come on with that deception, that craft and the flexibility to trigger the opposition complications across the ruck.
Panthers legend Greg Alexander stated regardless of the back-to-back premierships, it was an “huge” problem to match the 1981-83 Eels, who have been the final staff to three-peat.
“Take the 2 gamers who’ve now moved on to different golf equipment — Kikau and Koroisau — doesn’t matter the way you sugar-coat it, they’re huge losses and it’ll take them time,” Alexander stated.
“However I used to be very impressed by what Mitch Kenny and Soni Luke did. Soni Luke got here on the sphere and made a distinction and I believed acquired Penrith again into the sport along with his runs from dummy half.”
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary agreed his staff was disjointed throughout his post-game press convention.
“So, little little bit of early season rust. The staff’s completely different, too, particularly at dummy-half,” Cleary stated.
“Quick pre-season. Each video games we’ve performed, climate’s been unhealthy. That every one provides up.
“We’ve acquired some work to do there however I’m positive we’ll do it.”
Whereas the Broncos are anticipated to carry out higher than final 12 months, assuming Reynolds can keep match, it was a shock loss because the Panthers had gained 31 of their final 33 at house main into the match, courting again to late 2019.
But it surely was a defensive masterclass from the Broncos which noticed the Panthers’ three-year run of going 8-0 to start out the season snapped.
“It’s the primary time in a few years I’ve a lot resilience on their (the Broncos’) personal tryline,” Gorden Tallis stated.
“I don’t know what number of units the Panthers had 20m out.
“It was a kind of moments the place Brisbane, they only dug deep, Penrith have been throwing the whole lot at them however Brisbane simply believed in themselves.”
