Scott slams Garbutt as ‘weak’ after Tamou punch

North Queensland co-captain Matt Scott has criticised Mitch Garbutt‘s punch on James Tamou which blighted the closing minutes of the World Club Challenge at Headingley on Sunday evening.

Leeds were losing 32-4 when Garbutt saw a red card for hitting Tamou after the Cowboy had slapped Rhinos prop Keith Galloway.

“It was bit of a cheap shot,” Scott told reporters after the game.

“He [Tamou] wasn’t looking at him [Garbutt], he was looking at Keith [Galloway].

“I haven’t seen it in the NRL because we’ve stamped down on it.

“That sort of stuff, I don’t think it’s tough.

“It’s pretty weak to punch someone in the face when they’re not looking at you.

“It was pretty ordinary.”

Garbutt went into the Cowboys dressing room after the game and apologised to Tamou. The North Queensland prop did not talk to the media after the game.

Scott believes that the NRL has taken the right path in attempting to eliminate such violence from the sport in Australia.

“Rugby league is a tough game, and I suppose we don’t want to see the toughness taken out of it,” he added.

“Stuff like that – there’s so much research on it.

“In rugby league, we’ve seen how a punch can kill advertising and stuff like that.

“There’s other ways to be tough. I think it’s a good move that we’ve got rid of it.”