Two Tigers face bans as reason for Twal’s post-match run-in with Bulldog revealed

Alex Twal was so angry after full-time in Saturday night’s clash between Wests Tigers and the Bulldogs that he refused to shake hands with Canterbury forward Josh Curran following an incident in the 70th minute.After their fifth straight defeat, the NRL match review committee heaped more pain on the Tigers on Sunday with playmakers Latu Fainu and Adam Doueihi facing suspensions.Alex Twal was still seething with Josh Curran after full-time.Fox SportsTwal let his emotions bubble over in the 70th minute when he lashed out at Bulldog Jaeman Salmon with his left hand. Twal was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes, and Salmon later admitted there were some “theatrics” from him in the way he quickly fell to the ground.When Twal returned from the bin in the final minute of play, he tackled Salmon, only for Curran to object. Twal and Curran then squared off and had to be separated.While 30-year-old Twal shook hands with Salmon after the game, it was a different story when a smiling Curran came over to high five him.TV cameras captured Twal bumping into Curran with his chest and mutter some words before being accompanied from the field by a member of the Tigers staff and former player Tim Grant.Josh Curran and Alex Twal clash right on full-time in the middle of Accor Stadium.NRL PhotosSources with knowledge of the post-match incident, not authorised to speak publicly, said they were proud of the emotion Twal showed, rather than disappointed by his lack of sportsmanship.“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.Twal was given the option of staying off the field at the end of his 10-minute stint in the sin bin, given the Bulldogs already had the game sewn up, but he wanted to return to finish the job with his “brothers”.When asked about the option of keeping Twal out of the action, especially after he had been ridiculed by Canterbury fans when he returned from the bin – and was even given the Arabic “khawd″⁣ hand gesture by several Bulldogs supporters – Tigers coach Benji Marshall said: “I thought 30 seconds is enough time to not get in any more trouble.Referee Tyson Brough sends Alex Twal to the sin bin.NRL Photos“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 and how we’re feeling as a club. It’s tough at the moment.”Twal was charged by the match review committee on Sunday with contrary conduct, but can escape with a fine.Fainu, however, who was also sent to the sin bin for making dangerous contact after going low and flipping prop Leo Thompson into a dangerous position, was hit with a grade-three dangerous contact charge and faces a two-match ban with an early plea.Doueihi also faces a match on the sidelines for a high shot on Harry Hayes.The double halves blow may force Marshall to accelerate plans to blood young gun Javon Andrews against Canberra next weekend.The embarrassing loss to the Bulldogs capped a horror week for the Tigers, who confirmed marquee man Jarome Luai would be leaving the club a season early to link with Parramatta. Luai tried hard against the Dogs but struggled to make an impact.The Tigers play the Raiders in Canberra next Saturday. The Raiders lost star Hudson Young to a season-ending Achilles injury in their 34-24 win over South Sydney on Saturday.Salmon, meanwhile, played down the incident with Twal.“It was just a bit of push and shove; I might have got under his skin a bit,” Salmon said.“I never really thought about throwing a punch; I’m not much of a fighter.“It didn’t hurt that much. There’s a bit of theatrics in it [falling down], but what happens on the field stays on the field. ‘Twally’ is a good fella.“It was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I did shake hands [with Twal].”From our partners