NRL: Canberra Raiders' Joe Tapine explains his reaction to Aaron Booth tackle

Having become one of the leaders in the Canberra squad, and considered the best forward in the game by his coach, the New Zealand international said throwing punches in response to the incident - which resulted in him being sin-binned - wasn't a great moment.

But as Tapine later explained, Booth's actions were simply unacceptable.

"I felt like it was a cannonball," he told The Canberra Times. "If I did that to someone, I would be getting penalised so that's what really angered me.

"It was dangerous contact. I shouldn't have reacted like that, but it is what it is."

The Raider was on Sunday dealt a grade one contrary conduct charge by the NRL match review committee after Canberra's rousing 36-24 victory on the Gold Coast.

As his first offence Tapine will likely escape with a $1000 fine with an early plea, or a $1500 fine if he fights the charge and loses.

NRL great Andrew Johns supported Tapine's outrage at Booth, calling for urgent change to tackling rules in the game after a similar tackle attempt by Brisbane's Patrick Carrigan led to Wests Tigers' Jackson Hastings suffering a gruesome leg injury on Saturday night.

"I can't blame [Tapine] for reacting like this," Johns said on Nine's Sunday Footy Show.

"This is something I've been talking to people within the NRL [about]. When there's a two-person tackle and there's no momentum, that one we have to eradicate - the third person coming in.

"We saw a while back [South Sydney's] Liam Knight destroyed his knee.

"The third player comes in from an unseen position and dives at his knees. I don't care if it's at the hamstrings or where it is. We have to eradicate that so if there's two men in the tackle, if they can't get the player down, then one has to change his technique and go down so there's only one at the top.

"That third man should not be allowed to come in. Dangerous."

Tapine was fuming in the aftermath of the incident before half-time, and threw Booth around like a ragdoll, prompting players from both sides to rush in and break up a brawl.

The front-rower was disappointed he had let his team down with the sin bin but said he promised to make his minutes count when he returned.

"That's always tough game. We kind of fell away at the end, and the sin bin didn't help," Tapine said.

"I told them sorry for going away for 10 minutes and that I'd make it up for the boys. That's what I tried to do when I came back out."

Tapine certainly did that. Despite the sin bin the 28-year-old scored an incredible solo try - just his second of the season - and he totalled 172 metres, four offloads, and one line break.

"I haven't scored many this year and it's getting to the back end of the season so I needed a try," he said with a laugh.

"I already scored one but one these days isn't much apparently."

After the victory Raiders captain Elliott Whitehead agreed with coach Ricky Stuart that Tapine was the best forward in the game.

Tapine was proud of the feedback and said it was pleasing that the grind had paid off leading to his career-best season with the Raiders.

"I think everyone aims to be the best in their position," he said.

"I'm happy with that praise. I've been working hard and it's been a couple of years work in progress but I'm happy with my game."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: