Biffo back in the NRL: Scott sent off after breaking Walker’s eye socket
Related Story: Storm brewing after Manly win with complaints over sin-bin timing
An all-in brawl saw the Melbourne Storm's NRL clash with Manly explode into life last night, costing Curtis Scott a potential State of Origin berth after he left Dylan Walker with a broken eye socket.
Scott threw a flurry of punches at Manly's Walker, leaving the referee no choice but to give the Storm centre his marching orders, making him the first player to be sent off in the NRL since 2015.
Walker and Sea Eagles hooker Apisai Koroisau were also sin-binned for their roles in the handbags, in a match that ended in a drubbing for the hosts, 24-4 in Manly's favour.
The timing is dreadful for Scott, who faces a lengthy ban for his actions, with Blues Origin coach Brad Fittler likely to stage a huge clean-out of the NSW team.
As well as showing he can handle the big stage as a premiership centre last season, the tough 20-year-old has formed a threatening left-edge combination with NSW certainty Josh Addo-Carr.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy was disappointed Scott reacted so poorly to the niggle from Walker.
"He needs to learn from this," Bellamy said.
"One thing you like about him is that he's really competitive and that's the first time he's done that but he will learn from that because it's going to be fairly costly to us and to him as well."
The drama was only beginning following the brawl, as Walker and Koroisau returned to the field, only for the Storm's head of football, Frank Ponissi to protest on the sidelines, claiming the timekeepers had made an error, allowing the pair to come back before their 10-minute penalties were up.
Melbourne's Nelson Asofa-Solomona was put on report for a dangerous tackle with less than two minutes left, and then Manly's Moses Suli went over on the final play of the game, with Trent Hodkinson missing the extras as a dirty night ended for the home side.
ABC/AAP
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