BY STAFF WRITERS

Rugby league fans and experts alike have gone into meltdown after the decision on Tuesday night to suspend Wests Tigers forward Luke Garner for his “late” shot on Canterbury’s Lachlan Lewis from Saturday night’s clash at ANZ Stadium.

Canterbury’s Chris Smith was later marched for a similar incident which bemused both Bulldogs and Wests Tigers supporters.

Most good judges believe Garner shouldn’t have even been penalised, let alone sin-binned, yet the NRL’s crackdown continues and Garner is now out of action for one week.

“When Lachlan Lewis kicks, he does like to kick as soon as he gets the ball. As soon as he went forward, I thought he was going to run,” Garner said during the hour-long hearing.

Garner argued he had a “fraction of a second” to make a decision.

“I committed to the tackle. I didn’t want him to get through the line.”

The rugby league world was shocked when the decision was handed down.