Canterbury Bulldogs second rower Jaeman Salmon has admitted there was "a bit of theatrics" after Alex Twal struck him during Saturday night's 32-0 victory over the Wests Tigers, insisting there are no hard feelings despite the incident that resulted in the Tigers' lock being sin-binned.
The flashpoint came late in the one-sided contest at Accor Stadium as frustrations boiled over for the visitors, who were held scoreless.
Twal was sent to the sin bin after striking Salmon in the face with an open hand, just moments after teammate Latu Fainu had also been marched for dangerous contact on Leo Thompson, leaving the Tigers with 11 men for five minutes.
"It's an open hand strike. It's totally unnecessary, you're in the bin," referee Tyson Brough told the Tigers lock.
Despite the incident, Salmon was quick to downplay the confrontation after full-time.
"It didn't hurt that much," Salmon told Newswire in the Bulldogs' sheds.
"It was a bit of theatrics with it, I guess, but what happens on the field stays on the field, and I'm sure Twal is a good fella.
"It was just a bit of push and shove. I might have got under his skin a bit, but it's all good. It was rugby league. I never really thought about throwing a punch; I'm not much of a fighter.
"It was probably frustrating (for him). You look up on the scoreboard, and tensions were high, so I must have got under his skin a bit.
"I wasn't looking for it. It sort of just happens. I've never gone into a game trying to get under someone's skin, so it was just spur of the moment."
Marshall admitted Twal's actions were unnecessary but said they reflected the emotion within the Tigers' camp after another difficult night.
"I thought 30 seconds was enough time to not get in any more trouble," Marshall said on letting the lock finish the game.
"The thing I love about ‘Twally' is he loves the club, he's passionate, and he cares about the result.
"You don't often see his frustrations. It's a reflection of a lot of us at the moment."
Tensions carried over after the final siren when Twal clashed with Bulldogs forward Josh Curran after Curran smiled and offered him a high five, with Tigers staff stepping in to escort the lock away.
According to a Tigers source speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, the club viewed Twal's reaction as a sign of how much the defeat meant to him.
"Would you rather see Twal hurting the way he was, or players patting each other on the back and laughing after a loss?" the club source said.
The source also revealed Twal was given the option to remain on the bench for the final 30 seconds after serving his sin bin, but insisted on returning to the field.
While Twal escaped with a $1,800 fine and will be available to face the Canberra Raiders next week, the Tigers will be without both Latu Fainu and Adam Doueihi after the pair were suspended, dealing another blow ahead of a must-win clash.
