Newcastle enforcer David Klemmer apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room after being sent off after the full-time siren sounded on his team’s wild 40-28 loss to South Sydney at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night.
Moments after he and Keaon Koloamatangi almost came to blows, Klemmer charged in to make a tackle on Daniel Suluka-Fifita in the final seconds of the game and his forearm made contact with the Rabbitoh forward's head as they went to the ground.
After consultation with the bunker, referee Todd Smith called Klemmer over, said “it’s reckless contact on the ground, direct to the head, you’re off”, and pointed towards the sideline.
It was a night of mixed emotions for the former NSW and Australian prop, having scored his first try in Newcastle colours in the 19th minute as part of a purple patch that gave the home side a 16-6 lead over the under-strength Rabbitohs midway through the first half.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien said he did not see the incident as he had left his box and was headed to the dressing-room, where Klemmer apologised and conceded emotions got the better of him.
Match Highlights: Knights v Rabbitohs
Just last week, Klemmer spent the last nine minutes of Newcastle’s 38-12 victory over Gold Coast in the sin-bin after running to the defence of team-mate Simi Sasagi and becoming involved in an altercation with Titans players.
“They told me in the sheds that he was sent, but whether that was to calm things down because he’d been involved in something earlier, I think that’s probably more the case,” O’Brien said.
“Certainly, I think David’s already addressed it with his team-mates then. He’s apologised to them, and he’s got a high care-factor, ‘Klem’.
“He just put in close to 70-odd minutes, and he’s frustrated. He let his emotions probably take over there but he’s not Robinson Crusoe for that to happen. People get frustrated.”
Apart from scoring his first try in his 75th game for Newcastle, and first overall in 97 games stretching back to 2017, Klemmer logged 169 metres and made 39 tackles without a miss in 66 minutes.
With the game out of reach, he and Koloamatangi had to be separated in the final minutes after coming together off the ball in back play.
In his first game as Souths captain, Latrell Mitchell resented Klemmer’s late forearm to Suluka-Fifita and ran a distance to remonstrate with the Newcastle prop.
Mitchell was reported in the 18th minute for high contact on Dominic Young in the process of making a try-saving tackle, but was not sanctioned for his involvement with Klemmer.
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“It’s pretty much self-explanatory, isn’t it. Everyone gets emotional and for me, obviously I’m captain, but I’ve got to stick up for my team-mates as well,” Mitchell said.
“I feel as myself, as a captain, as a leader, I’ve got to stick up in those situations, and regardless of what it looks like, I’m always there, first one for my teammates.
“That’s why I’ve built my game and that’s who I am, but definitely, a lot of emotion went into tonight and the result was obviously dealt with, and we came away with the two points in the end.”
Mitchell’s short line drop-out in the 28th minute sparked a flurry of three tries in eight minutes that turned a 16-6 deficit into an 18-16 South Sydney half-time lead, leaving O’Brien to lament his team’s lack of resilience under adversity.
Leaping Lee finds Klemmer
“We had an opportunity there where we had our foot on their throat a little bit, and we didn't get the ball back from the drop-out and that’s OK, but we had to be better at handling that,” O’Brien said.
“We compounded it with a penalty, they went down the other end and we had to be better at handling the penalty, and that’s where we're at – being able to fight our way through adversity.
“And some of that takes experience and personnel too.”
The Knights have now lost 12 of their past 14 games against Souths, which includes five straight losses in Newcastle stretching back to 2012.
Newcastle’s sixth heavy loss from their past seven home games this season left them languishing in 12th position on 12 points with eight matches to play, and needing a miracle to reach the finals for a third straight season.
“Mathematically, I’d imagine we’d still be thereabouts,” O’Brien said.
“The favourable thing I think is that a lot of teams play each other but yeah, there’s no point in me talking about that right now. We need to fix some stuff up for next week [against Manly].”