Violent on-field incident by Bulldogs forward leaves pundits in shock
Canterbury Bulldogs' Sitili Tupouniua is sent to the sin bin during their Round 8 defeat away against Brisbane Broncos in 2025
Bulldogs’ enforcer Sitili Tupouniua is facing a long stint on the sidelines after being charged for two separate incidents in a shocking display of ill-discipline in Canterbury’s loss to the Broncos on Thursday.
A total of three Bulldogs players have been cited for dangerous conduct and face lengthy bans after the Broncos put down the undefeated Dogs 42-18 in a dominant performance.
Joshua Curran is looking at a three-to-four-week suspension for a grade 2 shoulder charge on Payne Haas, while Matt Burton faces a one-to-two-week suspension for a grade 2 late and careless high shot on Billy Walters.
Curran was quickly sent to the sin-bin, however the shot by Burton was left unpunished – with Billy Walters coming off the field for a HIA assessment.
Sitili Tupouniua is facing five-to-seven matches on the sidelines after being cited for a duo of grade 2 charges, one for dangerous contact and the other for a shoulder charge, both on Broncos forward sub Brendan Piakura.
Despite four sin-binning’s during the match, three for the Dogs and one for the Broncos, it was Tupouniua’s borderline violent assault on Piakura which shocked commentators and fans alike.
Everyone but the bunker seemed to witness what seemed like intentional foul-play from the Bulldogs enforcer, which happened just eight minutes after the player returned from serving 10 mins in the bin for his earlier infringement.
There was a roar from the Brisbane crowd as the big-screen replay showed the Bulldogs forward lifting his knee into direct contact with the Broncos players head which he then followed up with what looked like a deliberate second strike with his knee at Piakura’s head as he slumped in the tackle.
The bunker cleared the shocking incident at the time having already sent two Bulldogs players to the sin bin.
Commentators were all in disbelief that Tupouniua was allowed to stay on the field given the crackdown on ‘no contact with the head.’
Roosters great Brad Fittler, speaking on Nine, said the incident was unacceptable: “You can’t have that.”
Even the Bulldogs great Michael Ennis said that Tupouniua was “lucky to stay on the field.”
Prominent rugby league journalist Phil ‘Buzz’ Rothfield expressed immediate disbelief over Sitili Tupouniua escaping sanction for a controversial kneeing incident, posting on X: “How the f* is Tupouniua not in the sin-bin. Kneed a bloke in the head.
This actually could have been a send off. Sin bin at very least. The NRL has completely lost the plot with the bunker pic.twitter.com/ILS4fDLiZH
— BUZZ ROTHFIELD (@BuzzRothfield) April 24, 2025
Buzz went on to write: “This actually could have been a send off. Sin bin at very least. The NRL has completely lost the plot with the bunker.”
Following the match, Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo was asked about his thoughts about the three Canterbury sin bins.
“[I] Don’t know if they were all fair,” he said.
“I’ll put that down to us trying too hard.”
The Bulldogs coach’s response might suggest that Ciraldo issued a challenge to the Bulldogs pack to match the physicality of the bigger Broncos pack.
Now, after losing the battle in the middle – and their cool, the Bulldogs are set to lose much strike power in the weeks leading up to the Origin period, as they fight to maintain their position on top of the NRL ladder.
