Finally a bit of sense in the media on this topic, which seems to be lacking in some quarters.
Bleating over Carroll dumb
Opinion by Mike Gibson
June 30, 2004
TONIE CARROLL could easily play one of those heavies in The Sopranos. With his Van Dyke whiskers and moustache and a look that says he's running out of patience, Carroll is the sort of guy you figure would be extremely proficient at knocking on doors.
Having noted that, I must say he is one of my favourite rugby league players. A tackling machine. A tough nut. Here's a bloke who is in your face.
Whether it's making the hard yards with those big legs pumping or putting opponents on their backsides, Carroll gets the job done with relentless efficiency.
But last Sunday playing for the Broncos, Carroll appeared to suffer from a rush of blood.
The unfortunate recipient was Raiders halfback Mark McLinden. First, having creamed McLinden in a rib-rattler, he finished it off with a wicked-looking right forearm to the head which saw him being placed on report.
Minutes later, he repeated the dose. As McLinden snapped the crucial field goal that gave Canberra the winning cushion, Carroll flattened him with another right forearm to the head.
What was Carroll thinking? I haven't the slightest idea.
On his first offence, I thought he was lucky not to get sent to the bin. Second time around, I thought he was fortunate not to get sent off.
Tonight, Carroll faces the judiciary charged with two counts of striking, with Queensland squealing about a "southern conspiracy" to keep him out of next Wednesday's Origin decider.
In a sneaky bid to try to get him into the game, when they announced their team on Monday, the Queensland selectors decided to leave him out.
They figured that if Carroll escaped with a one-match suspension, he'd serve it out by missing the Broncos' game against Souths on Sunday.
Then whooshka.
Paul Bowman's neck injury fails to respond. A late call-up to the Cane Toads, and out runs Carroll on to Telstra Stadium for Origin III.
The loudest wails about the possible outcome of tonight's judiciary meeting have emanated from Queensland's chairman of selectors, Gene Miles.
"You've got to realise that Tonie Carroll wears a maroon jersey," says Miles. "We've never had any favours down south. The Broncos haven't got a great record down there.
"This is a decider. Tonie Carroll is a very important player to Queensland."
Absolutely. But hey, why didn't Carroll think about that last Sunday, when he smashed his right forearm into McLinden's head?
Not once. He did it twice.
Don't start coming the raw banana prawn about the judiciary, because your player has lost the plot and carried on like a bonehead.
While understandably desperate for Carroll to play, Queensland's ploy is as silly as it gets.
Rubbishing the judiciary before they have even met to consider whether Carroll deserves a suspension is dumb, even by Queensland standards.
It's not the judiciary that's on trial tonight,
It's Tonie Carroll.
