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Matthew Shaw

'It's a disgrace' - Phil Clarke's fury after controversial Richie Myler incident

Phil Clarke didn't hold back in his assessment of that controversial moment in Leeds Rhinos' win over Huddersfield Giants. Everyone is talking about the incident surrounding Richie Myler and Chris Hill that saw the latter sin-binned minutes before Blake Austin scored a last-minute winner.

Though Clarke's Sky Sports colleague Jon Wilkin praised Myler for an act of "gamesmanship", Clarke was of a very different opinion. The Wigan Warriors great was all fired up before being asked about the matter by Brian Carney, and he wasted no time letting his feelings known when given the opportunity.

"I totally disagree with what Jon Wilkin said in commentary there that that's clever play and should be complimented," he said. "It's a disgrace, we brought in a rule a few years ago when people were cheating and passing a ball into an opponent intentionally to get a penalty, we penalised the cheating.

Read more: Jon Wilkin causes uproar with controversial praise of Leeds Rhinos ace Richie Myler

"Richie Myler plays for that penalty, there's nothing wrong with him and he's kidded the official. We used to talk about this sport that it's an honest game, people don't stay down, that went years ago. That's a disgrace and I agree that if that doesn't change I don't want to watch or even commentate on the sport where players do that."

Clarke, who is often a polarising figure on social media, has been widely praised for his comments.

On Twitter, one poster said: "Phil Clarke is a man that rugby league fans love to hate. But most people must be applauding his comments about not wanting to see cheating on our game. Impassioned stuff and absolutely spot on."

Another added: "First time I’ve agreed with Phil Clarke! That’s not how a professional player should act, it needs to be stamped out."

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