Former Manly outside back Alfred Smalley has struck out at alleged threats sent at his family after he was sent off in a NSW Cup game at the weekend. Smalley was sent off in the last minute of the Eels’ NSW Cup game against the Warriors after rushing out of the defensive line and flooring Warriors fullback Taine Tuaupiki. After receiving on-field assistance, the Warriors’ number one player failed a head injury evaluation.
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I’d be dishonest if I claimed that everything that has been mentioned in the media hasn’t had any impact on me,” he started. “After all the chaos, I’ve been trying to clear my thoughts. People who know me well know that I’m not a nasty player and I wouldn’t want to put a dog shot on anyone. I love to jam; you probably wouldn’t understand me if you didn’t watch Steve Matai or Jorge Taufua as a child.
I didn’t just try to shoot out the line and take a shot on the smallest player in that game, so please go watch the entire thing. Did I believe that to be a clean shot at the time? Of course I did, but a lot can go wrong when you move so quickly in one action.
I’ll take responsibility for my poor judgment, but I won’t take responsibility for the scene on the video where I saw him get knocked out cold and land with both of my elbows on his head. “As I stated, I believed it to be clean, therefore I didn’t do anything immoral or say anything hurtful to him. After realizing my mistake, I rushed up to him and apologized as we left the field together.
Oddly enough, he was with his family next to mine when I went to visit them. They approached me and said it was a huge success and they didn’t see anything wrong with it. They insisted that it was a clean hit even after I apologized to them. Since soccer and netball are contact sports with frequent high-speed collisions, perhaps you should go watch them instead of whining about this disgusting behavior. “I’ll own it and whatever consequence I get… but what I won’t stand for is being labelled a dirty player and have threats made towards me and my family.” In 2022, 25-year-old Smalley participated in two NRL games for Manly.
In 2022, 25-year-old Smalley participated in two NRL games for Manly. The 25-year-old Tuaupiki has made 20 appearances for the Warriors in the first division and has a contract with the team through the end of 2026.
