First the chicken wing, then the crusher – now THIS: The Storm find a new way to court controversy

The NRL says Brandon Smith has no case to answer but Cowboys fans and NRL analysts are concerned the Melbourne Storm hooker has unleashed a new form of wrestling tackle designed to injure players.

North Queensland Cowboys fans were left fuming after two tackles from the Storm rake left State of Origin hopeful Kyle Feldt and star co-captain Jason Taumalolo with medial ligament damage to their knees.

Feldt will miss six weeks with his Origin dream in tatters while Taumalolo could miss one to two games. 

Smith dove at the legs of both Feldt (top) and Taumalolo which resulted in the player tackling them high forcing them in another direction. Both players were injured from these tackles

Smith dove at the legs of both Feldt (top) and Taumalolo which resulted in the player tackling them high forcing them in another direction. Both players were injured from these tackles

In both incidents, Smith drove through hard at their lower legs while the player above forced them in the opposite direction.

The NRL has already outlawed wrestling techniques including the chicken wing and crusher tackles and now NRL 360 co-host Paul Kent is concerned they may have another tackle that needs to be stamped out before more players are injured.

As it currently stands, there is nothing illegal in the way Smith was tackling. 

‘They were reviewed,’ Annesley told the Daily Telegraph.

‘They are just legs tackles, there’s nothing out of the ordinary.

‘It’s not like they held another player and he came in late. In an old-fashioned sense we would have said great tackle.

‘There’s no evidence I can see or the Match Review Committee saw that was an illegality, or hold, or wrestling movement.’

 The Cowboys are understood to be privately fuming at the tactics that took the gloss off their big win over the Storm.

‘The tactics were to go low and hard into the legs,’ a Cowboys insider said.

‘Most teams coach their guys to hit hard around the bottom of the arse, but they were real low.’

Jordan Mclean, Taumaolo and winger Murray Taulagi were all left to ice knee complaints late in the match, leaving the Cowboys with no fit players on their bench

Jordan Mclean, Taumaolo and winger Murray Taulagi were all left to ice knee complaints late in the match, leaving the Cowboys with no fit players on their bench

 Kent said the technique should be looked at closely and rubbed out of the game if more players get hurt.

‘But the concern, always the delicate part, the concern is he is hitting low just above the knee a fraction of a second before they are getting hit from above and they are getting twisted back over the top of him,’ he said on Fox Sports.

‘I spoke to the Cowboys who were reluctant to talk specifically about it, they certainly noticed it during the game and thought this is an odd way to tackle, the fact that he was so low with so much drive,’ he said.

Feldt is expected to miss six weeks for the Cowboys which also de-rails his State of Origin hopes after he made his debut for the Queensland Maroons in 2021

Feldt is expected to miss six weeks for the Cowboys which also de-rails his State of Origin hopes after he made his debut for the Queensland Maroons in 2021

‘It is not the old traditional legs tackle where you basically hit and wrap around, it is more a drive through then when you combine the fact they are being hit from the other direction high.

‘There were other tackles in the past that have since become illegal, and what the game now has to figure out is were they just two accidents or is there something more deliberate about it, is it something that is being practised, and if so then what do they do about it.

‘Under the laws of the game it is a legal tackle but if we are going to see injuries like this beginning to start coming in where players are doing medial ligaments because they are being twisted back over themselves… then the game has to act on it.’ 

Taumaolo receives treatment from Cowboys trainer Steve Sartori on the field. His injury is not as bad as Feldt's, but he remains unlikely to line up in the club's huge clash against Penrith

Taumaolo receives treatment from Cowboys trainer Steve Sartori on the field. His injury is not as bad as Feldt’s, but he remains unlikely to line up in the club’s huge clash against Penrith

Meanwhile NRL 360 host Braith Anasta has said the Sydney Roosters might be getting ‘nervous’ about their investment in Smith, who will join the tri-colours in 2023 on a deal worth a reported $800,000 a season.

‘Brandon Smith at nine, is he the answer? Watching Smith’s game on the weekend, I thought he struggled with his passing game,’ Anasta said.

‘His decisions when to run the football and when not were just nowhere near where they needed to be.

‘I think he is more a lock than a nine which again takes me to next year, where the Roosters have paid $800k for him to be a specialist hooker.

‘I was watching that game on the weekend thinking, if I am the Roosters, I am a little bit nervous if this man is the right man for the job.

‘Just looking at his service out of dummy-half, his timing, his passing, his options, does he take the right option at the right time?’