Chad Townsend To Miss Rest Of The Season After Monster Hit On Kalyn Ponga

Chad Townsend will miss the remainder of the NRL regular season after accepting an early guilty plea for his shoulder charge on Kalyn Ponga.

The Cronulla Sharks five-eighth made headlines on Friday evening after he was sent off for the massive hit on Ponga in the 38-10 loss to the Newcastle Knights.

Now Townsend is facing the consequences for his actions after the NRL slapped him with a three-week suspension.

NRL fans went into meltdown over the weekend as replay upon replay emerged on social media of the huge tackle which sent Ponga flying into the air.

The Knights fullback had the ball in his hands and was just about to continue play off a 20-metre restart.

But just as he was looking up for someone to pass to, referee Ben Cummins blew the whistle for him to re-take his tap.

But by then it was too late.

Clearly not hearing Cummins' whistle, Townsend sprinted full pelt at Ponga and crunched him with a bulldozing tackle.

The monster collision saw Ponga crash to the McDonald Jones Stadium turf.

It wasn't long before his Newcastle teammates rushed over to remonstrate with Townsend over the incident.

And after some back and fourth between the two sets of players, referee Cummins called over Cronulla captain Wade Graham and gave Townsend his marching orders.

Fox League

Townsend's appeals fell on deaf ears as the match official pointed towards the stands.

29-year-old Townsend is now the third player this season to be sent off during an NRL game - but not everyone shared the same views of the incident.

Rugby league fans and experts were divided with some claiming that the replays were damning for Townsend's case while others suggested he shouldn't have even been sent off at all.

But as the weekend came to a close, NRL officials finally made their call.

Townsend was slapped with a three-game suspension, meaning he won't play again for the Sharks in the regular season.

There was some good news for Cronulla though, as the successful appeal of the grade three charge meant Townsend was able to avoid a five-week suspension - a time period that would have put him out of contention for finals footy altogether.

Topics: Cronulla Sharks, Rugby League, nrl, Australia, Newcastle Knights

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry