NRLW rookie cops suspension for spear tackle on debut

Jasper Bruce |

Brisbane debutant Reegan Hicks leaves the field after being sent off against Gold Coast.
Brisbane debutant Reegan Hicks leaves the field after being sent off against Gold Coast.

Reegan Hicks’ nightmare NRLW debut has been capped off by a two-game ban for the tackle that left match officials to banish her from the field.

The Brisbane forward was sent off for her spear tackle on Sienna Lofipo in the second half of the Broncos’ 44-4 win over Gold Coast on Sunday.

The match review committee charged Hicks with a grade-two dangerous throw on Monday morning, meaning she will miss upcoming clashes with the Sydney Roosters and St George Illawarra with an early guilty plea.

The Queensland Under-19s co-captain risks missing a third game against Cronulla by challenging the charge. 

Broncos coach Scott Prince said 18-year-old Hicks was left distraught by the tackle.

Hoicks
Reegan Hicks heads to the sideline after the incident. (Dave Hunt/AAP PHOTOS)

“I know she’s really upset and really remorseful for what she did,” Prince said.

“It’s one of those things where you hate to see it in the game. It’s just a straight-up accident. She’s really upset there in the sheds. 

“She’s an 18-year-old, who’s just trying to do her best for her football team.

“The girls have rallied around her, making sure she’s in good spirits.”

Elsewhere, Gold Coast captain Georgia Hale is set to miss one game, against Wests Tigers, for her hip-drop-style tackle on Brianna Clark from earlier in the game.

Hale was sin-binned for the shot and will miss a second game if she chooses to challenge her grade-two dangerous contact charge.

AAP