Paul Gallen and Phil Gould have been left stunned after Justin Olam was sent off in the Tigers’ loss to North Queensland.

And the Tigers star has now been hit with a 3-4 week suspension for the incident which saw him marched.

Early in the second half at Leichhardt Oval, Olam put a big hit on Cowboys second-rower Heilum Luki with the Bunker checking the contact.

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Referee Chris Butler was then informed by Bunker official Ashley Klein to send off Olam due to a high level of force direct to the head.

The Tigers centre then stood there shocked at the decision with Gould simply saying “wow” on Nine’s coverage.

“That’s a big call,” Gallen added.

“I think it’s 10 in the bin no doubt … I don’t know about that. I think it’s a real harsh call.”

“So you mean to tell me in the first minute of a grand final, that’s a send-off?,” Gould said.

Olam’s send-off was a flashpoint in the game with the Cowboys leading 20-14 at the time.

North Queensland then scored three tries immediately after the decision to put themselves in control.

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Earlier it was the Tigers scoring first through Samuela Fainu before Tom Dearden went over and Murray Taulagi scored a double.

Jahream Bula went over for his first of the night in the 36th minute to make it 18-10 at the break.

Another Bula try after half-time and a Valentine Holmes penalty goal made it 20-14 before the send-off.

Taulagi then scored his hat-trick before Scott Drinkwater and Holmes all scored.

Tries to Solomon Alaimalo and Solomona Faataape for the Tigers meant the Tigers only trailed 38-24 with 18 minutes left.

Only three more four-pointers would be scored after it though, with Fainu scoring his double and Drinkwater and Feldt going over for the Tigers, delivering a 48-30 win to the Cowboys.

Post-game Tigers coach Benji Marshall used his words wisely when somewhat avoiding criticising the officiating.

“I got a group of guys in there who are feeling pretty down about it,” he said of the send-off.

“I guess the easy thing for me to do would be to come out and say it was a bad decision and that he got it wrong and a sin-bin probably would’ve sufficed, and we’ve seen plenty of those this season, but I’m not going to say that.”

Cowboys coach Todd Payten believed Luki was lucky to not have a broken jaw.

“He flushed him right on his chin,” he said post-game.

“Heilum’s a big body, I don’t think Justin’s that big. I thought it was right call … I don’t know how the referees missed it right at that very moment.”