Confusion over Tigers star's punishment for 'ugly' act

Confusion has reigned over Aidan Sezer's punishment after he escaped the sin bin for a hip drop tackle in the Tigers' 22-14 loss to the Bulldogs.

Midway through the second half, Sezer was put on report for bringing down Bulldogs prop Josh Curran.

"It got ugly there … that's really ugly, trapping him with his legs and all the weight coming down on the back of the ankle there," Mick Ennis explained on Fox League.

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Despite the precedent seemingly set with hip drop tackles, Sezer managed to stay on the field with commentator Warren Smith calling it "stunning" before Ennis described his disbelief. 

"It's so hard as a commentator to give people a clear understanding of the ruling of these tackles because that is a sin bin every day of the week from what we've seen," he said.

"Aidan Sezer to his credit, he's not deliberately trying to do that, it got ugly there, he apologises to Curran but that doesn't matter, it's a sin bin."

The Tigers got themselves on the board first at Accor Stadium with halfback Aidan Sezer kicking a penalty goal in the 14th minute.

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Charlie Staines then scored the first try moments later to make it 8-0.

Kurt Mann's try in the 23rd minute put the Bulldogs on the board before the Tigers hit back through Fonua Pole.

The Tigers held a 14-6 lead at the break, with Reed Mahoney put on report late in the half for a dangerous throw.

Canterbury came out a different side with Curran scoring immediately while two penalty shots gifted them a 16-14 lead.

The second penalty came off Sezer's hip drop.

Bulldogs centre Bronson Xerri scored the final try in the 56th minute to make it 22-14 before the game went into carnage late with David Klemmer sin-binned for dissent. Fellow Tigers forward Alex Seyfarth also faced the same punishment for a headbutt on Mahoney.