Luke Brooks might think twice about throwing hands on an NRL field again.
The Wests Tigers gun was left with a shiner and given 10 minutes in the sin bin after fighting Dane Gagai - in an altercation that Brooks, himself, started.
It was an evening to forget for Brooks and his Wests Tigers side after they were downed 26-24 by the South Sydney Rabbitohs in a game they probably should have won.
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Handling errors, bizarre decision-making and a number of missed chances meant the Tigers are still outside the top eight on the NRL ladder.
And it all became a bit too much for Michael Maguire's team as their frustrations boiled over in one fiery second-half incident.
Star halfback Brooks was in the thick of it all as he locked horns with Bunnies centre and winger Gagai following a big coming-together.
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In the moments leading up to the exchange, Gagai had thrown Brooks to the Bankwest Stadium turf in a tackle that clearly didn't sit well with the Tigers ace.
As the set ended, Gagai tried to walk away from the scene with the ball in his hands but was held back by Brooks.
Pulling away, Gagai then threw the ball at Brooks' head - which is when all hell broke loose.
Running over to confront him, Brooks grabbed Gagai's jersey and threw a massive haymaker on the chin of his opponent.
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Both sets of players then ran over to break up the biff but Gagai landed a couple of cheeky uppercuts on Brooks' temple amongst the scuffle, leaving him with a black eye.
The incident was eventually defused and referee Ben Cummins wasted no time in sending both players - as well as Tigers forward Alex Twal - to the sin bin for their roles in the blue.
But as Brooks made his way towards the tunnel, the extent of his shiner was clear for all to see as cameras zoomed in on it.
At five-foot-nine-inches tall, Brooks was one of the smallest players on the pitch last night.
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As for Gagai, he's not exactly Andre The Giant - but he's still significantly larger than Brooks.
Either way, Brooks was left sporting a black eye for the remainder of the game.
As they say: pick on someone your own size, right?
Topics:ย Rugby League, nrl, Australia