Manly Sea Eagles forward Toafofoa Sipley has issued a heartfelt apology to Dominic Young after his tackle ruled out the Rooster of the historic Round 1 game in Las Vegas.
Recognised as one of the best signings in the off-season, Young was showcased in multiple advertisements for the Las Vegas games with his aerial ability and incredible speed.
However, the United States audience has been robbed of the chance to watch him after he has been ruled out of the clash against the Brisbane Broncos with injury.
Young left the field in a neck brace and was taken to Gosford Hospital, where he underwent several X-rays and MRI scans, which revealed that he was set to require neck surgery.
After delivering a crusher tackle to the Englishman and causing the injury, Sipley - who will also miss his side's Las Vegas game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs via suspension - has opened up on the incident and wants to apologise to him face-to-face.
โI am truly sorry โ it was honestly an accident,โ Sipley told The Daily Telegraph.
โI truly am sorry about what happened to Dom.
โIt's so unfortunate. There was no intent and it was an accident.
โObviously, I've robbed Dom โ and me โ of a game in Vegas, which is really unfortunate. It's definitely something I am trying to get out of my game (by working) with Jimmy Dymock, our wrestling coach.
โIt was honestly an accident. It probably doesn't help my case because it has happened to me a couple of times in the past.
โI was really apologetic after the game to Dom Young. Even when I got off (the field) after my stint, I went straight to their changing room to go look for him and apologise.
โI know next time, whenever I talk to him, whenever it is, I will definitely say it face-to-face.
โI even tried reaching out on Instagram but I think I'm stuck in his message requests. I wanted to apologise further but I'm probably the last person he would want to hear from.
โI know a lot of the boys are close to Dom. Jason Saab even messaged him.โ
Toafofoa Sipley has been reported for this tackle on Dom Young.
๐บ Watch #NRLRoostersManly on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/B1ijnGXtqA
โ๏ธ BLOG https://t.co/JBINS7dU8J
๐ข MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/dqFVkHzf6S pic.twitter.com/cZ6tOEXSRS— Fox League (@FOXNRL) February 17, 2024
The 29-year-old forward also admitted that the tackle was a complete accident, and he has been working on his tackling form with assistant and wrestling coach Jim Dymock.
โI don't go into any game with the intent to injure someone. Footy happens at a thousand miles an hour โ it was just one of those unfortunate ones,โ he said.
โI learned at a young age, footy is a game of angles. You never know what way you're going to go in. That's how footy is.
โI'm not trying to justify what's happened because I feel bad. But you can't control certain positions you get into and I just found myself in an unfortunate angle with Dom and he, unfortunately, he has come out of it injured.
โInjuries are definitely the unfortunate side of rugby league.
โHopefully he's not off the field for too long because he is an exciting player and the Roosters, they've got him over from the Knights, will want to see him playing in the tricolours. I wish all the best for his rehab.โ
