Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has defended Taylan May’s head clash with Reece Walsh as an accident as Broncos counterpart Kevin Walters also gave his verdict with the Penrith gun escaping suspension.

Fox League commentator Andrew Voss was left baffled at Penrith’s Taylan May being placed on report for a high shot that left Reece Walsh with a “severe” cut around his eye.

May subsequently escaped a ban and wasn’t cited by the match review committee, while teammate Matt Eisenhith was hit with a fine for a grade one shoulder charge.

The hit left Walsh bleeding profusely below his left eye and was forced from the field to undergo a head injury assessment.

Although Walsh passed his HIA and looked ready to return to the action, he ventured back to the sheds and was eventually ruled out of the contest due to his inability to see properly out of his left eye, with the star fullback to undergo scans on Friday morning.

Referee Gerard Sutton decided to blow his whistle and award a penalty to the Broncos, explaining to Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo that May has “got a duty of care to bend to make a tackle and he doesn’t bend.”

Sutton subsequently placed May on report.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary believes the May head clash with Walsh was merely an accident.

“It just thought it was an accident,” he said.

“I actually thought he was trying to pull out of the tackle. If he had have bent down, which the bunker was suggesting he should have, he would’ve hit him in the head with his shoulder which is not what we want.

“Reece Walsh moves pretty fast and these things happen.”

Broncos coach Kevin Walters also didn’t see too much in the tackle for May to worry about.

“He’s not too good in there. He’s having trouble seeing with that big gash,” Walters said.

“He tried to get back on but he just wasn’t right to go so I pulled him from the game.”

The decision to call for a penalty and then to not place May in the sin bin left Voss flabbergasted.

Rugby league legend Michael Ennis noted on commentary “we’re going to see a penalty here” and Voss replied: “Really?”

After Sutton placed May on report, Voss couldn’t believe what he’d seen.

“Ok then, if it’s illegal and the player is wounded and that player is now off, can you follow the logic process of that?” Voss said.

“I don’t support the decision at first impression.

Voss added: “That’s a talking point. Can (NRL) 360 have a special edition on that incident alone? Has the game just been rewritten how it’s played?”

Ennis then pointed out the significant impact Walsh’s absence would have on the Broncos given his importance to their attack.

“Well all of a sudden for Kevin Walters now, plans are in disarray,” Ennis said.

“Their superstar fullback only four minutes into the contest has left the field with a severe cut around the eye after a severe collision with Taylan May.”

Yet Voss continued to scratch his head at why Sutton called the incident a penalty in the first place.

“I don’t agree with the penalty,” Voss said.

“The fact is they’ve blown it. Wounded player, now off the field, potentially gone for the game, and there’s no sin bin?

“I mean, any other high tackle, you’re off to the bin.”

Voss concluded: “I don’t get it, I’m sorry. Duty of care, there’s a lot of accidents in our game and this is an accident.”

Meanwhile, Paul Gallen, Johnathan Thurston and Brad Fittler found themselves in a heated argument surrounding May’s punishment.

Speaking on Channel 9’s coverage, Gallen held the opinion that May shouldn’t be sanctioned, however both Thurston and Fittler believed he had a duty of care to avoid Walsh’s face.

“For me it was totally accidental. I’m surprised he was put on report and was penalised for it. You can tell it’s totally accidental there. Hopefully Reece Walsh is OK. That he hasn’t broken his cheekbone and might only miss a week, but that does not look good,” Gallen said.

“I think if you come in on someone’s blindside you are responsible to tackle below their shoulders… you are responsible. It’s still contact above the shoulders.” Fittler replied.

“He can’t control where Reece Walsh steps or what Reece Walsh does,” Gallen said.

“You can control how high you tackle. You are going in on someone’s blindside,” Fittler said.

“You have a duty of care. And you can tell he’s actually not gone in for the tackle. He’s jumped up,” Thurston said.

“He braced. He didn’t jump. He braced,” Gallen said.

“He braced yes, but you’ve got to lower your target,” Thurston added.

News Corp rugby league reporter Brent Read was also among those saying a sin bin was warranted and called for punishment.