Yeah he's in trouble. He looked to be angry and it looked intentional. I'm just struggling to think of a comparable incident in recent times....not sure how many weeks he'll get, won't be short though.
He did apologise...
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Link Fox Sports
A spiteful late elbow to Johnathan Thurston's jaw sent shockwaves through the Queensland Origin team on Friday night as Matt Prior became the first NRL player to be sent off this year.
North Queensland Cowboys star Thurston was left motionless on the Dairy Farmers Stadium turf in the 55th minute when St George Illawarra forward Prior smashed the five-eighth with a late elbow souring
the Cowboys 30-6 win.
Sent off ... Prior's crude hit on Thurston.
Cowboys coach Neil Henry agreed the incident warranted a send-off, with the referees showing no hesitation after replays almost sparked a brawl on the turf between angered North Queensland players and the Dragons.
Henry said Thurston was not seriously injured, with club doctors initially clearing the five-eighth of a broken jaw and diagnosing him with concussion that will be monitored throughout the week.
"It warranted a send-off," Henry said. "I would expect one of my players to be sent off if that happened to them.
"(Thurston) is OK. He is talking and sending texts so his vision is fine."
Prior tried to find Thurston after the game to apologise and said the incident was not in his nature.
"It wasn't a brain explosion, I was just trying to give him a bit of a shoulder charge, it was a bit careless and my elbow got him high and I regret it now.
"I didn't mean to do it and I hope he is OK," Prior said. "It was just careless and dumb and I wish I didn't do it. It was unintentional.
"It's not my go, I'm not that type of bloke. I try to stay away from hitting blokes around the head."
It wasn't the only scare for Queensland with prop Matt Scott limping off the field midway through the second half favouring the foot which had kept him sidelined for six weeks.
But Scott said he'd expected the pain and was content with his performance, an ominous sign with the Queensland team to be named after next week.
"I feel pretty good. There was a bit of pain in the foot but that's to be expected. I was pretty happy with how it came through," he said.
The news on Scott and Thurston would be a relief to Maroons coach Mal Meninga as several Cowboys put their hands up for Origin spots.
