Carrigan at pains to fight tackle ban

PAT Carrigan has played a key y role in preparing his defence e against a hip-drop tackle charge and will fly to Sydney in a bid to beat a lengthy ban.

Carrigan, the thinking man’s lock forward, has been sifting through data and videos as the Broncos try to minimise the length of a likely suspension following the tackle that left Wests Tigers playmaker Jackson Hastings with a broken leg.

It is not mandatory for Carrigan to appear at the Sydney hearing, but he has resisted the offer of a video link to be with league lawyer Nick Ghabar in a sign of how much the verdict means to him.

“Pat is committed to handling it as professionally as he can,’’ said Broncos football manager Ben Ikin said.

“Pat has been on my case since it happened about exploring all the information he possibly can to see how he approaches the hearing.

“He has been badgering me every step of the way, but he has maintained great empathy for Jackson Hastings all the way through. He has left no stone unturned.’’

It appears inevitable Carrigan will be suspended, but the length of the ban could have a major bearing on whether the Broncos finish in the top four.

Defensive guru Trevor Gillmeister believes Carrigan is the unfortunate “meat in the sandwich’’, but league’s hipdrop crackdown is long overdue.

“They all do it,’’ Gillmeister said. “Carrigan is the poor bugger who is the meat in the sandwich. He did not go in hard, but he has been caught and will suffer the consequences because someone got injured. I feel sorry for him, but I feel this tackle should have been knocked on the head a while ago.

“I don’t like it at all. It’s a bad tackle. All the blokes are so strong these days that when you have two guys holding you and someone twisting your legs, something just has to give.

“Normally it is your knee ligaments. It puts so much strain on. The game is hard enough. Your body just can’t be that flexible.”