Tag: Josh King

JOSH KING

Storm lock Josh King escaped sanction for a potential eye-gouge on Warriors forward Jazz Tevaga, despite being placed on report and penalized.

In fairness to King the action may have been accidental, but it came just a week after Bulldogs enforcer Corey Waddell copped a five week suspension for coming into contact with the eyes of Titans skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.

In Waddell’s case there was no genuine proof of a gouging action, but he copped a monster ban for coming into contact with the eyes of an opponent.

Gorden Tallis and Greg Alexander believed that King would be in trouble, given the harsh reaction to the Waddell incident, even if it was incidental contact.

“I think it is minimal contact, but you can’t make contact with the eyes,” Tallis said.

“I don’t like it. Don’t go near the eyes.”

“Corey Waddell got five weeks for not even gouging someone,” Alexander added.

“In slow motion it doesn’t look good. His hand went over the top of the face and got somewhere in the eye vicinity so he could be in trouble.

King could have been given the opportunity to protest his innocence at the judiciary and may well have proven it, but the decision not to charge him a week after giving Waddell five weeks on the sidelines smacks of inconsistency.

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AARON BOOTH

Titans hooker Aaron Booth went unpunished by the MRC for a potential cannonball tackle on Raiders forward Joe Tapine.

The incident in the 32nd minute of the Titans 36-24 loss to the Raiders saw two Gold Coast players tackling Tapine before Booth came in late down around his legs from behind in a cannonball style tackle.

Tapine took issue with the tackle and the pair got into a scuffle, which resulted in the Raiders star being sent to the sin bin.

On his way to the sin bin Tapine questioned the tackle to the referee but Ben Cummins said the tackle was cleared.

The cannonball tackle is up there with the hip drop as one of the most dangerous tackles on a rugby league field for its ability to cause serious injury.

“Joe Tapine must have felt what he thought was a cannonball as Aaron Booth comes in right at the knees,” Matt Russell said.

“You have got to be above the knees. Quads or higher.”

While Booth may have initially hit Tapine on the hamstrings, the speed and force at which he came into the tackle from behind as the third man in, had the potential to cause Tapine a serious injury, which is why he was so angry.

Gorden Tallis told Triple M that he didn’t think Patrick Carrigan’s tackle “was as bad as some that I’ve seen this year” and brought up the Booth incident.

“So Aaron Booth, I have spears into the back (of Joe Tapine). Which one is worse in your eyes?,” he asked.

“I can’t believe he didn’t get reported,” Ben Dobbin said.

“It wasn’t even a penalty,” James Hooper added.

“Probably the one from the Titans game, it seemed to have more intent in the tackle,” James Graham added.

If the MRC are serious about stamping it out of the game, Booth should have at least been charged and given the opportunity to defend himself at the judiciary.

Failing to charge these incidents gives the players no deterrent to stop employing the cannonball tackle if they think they can get away with it on a technicality.

PATRICK CARRIGAN

Broncos lock Patrick Carrigan is facing a lengthy suspension for his hip-drop tackle on Jackson Hastings after being referred directly to the judiciary.

Carrigan deserves to be suspended for the ugly tackle that broke Hastings’ leg and ruled him out for the season.

However, if the incident was deemed serious enough to refer Carrigan straight to the judiciary, why was he not sin-binned or sent off?

Nathan Cleary coped with a five week suspension after being sent off for an ugly lifting tackle on Dylan Brown.

If Carrigan is looking at a similar ban, the Tigers should have got the on-field advantage of having the Broncos reduced to 12 men for 10 minutes at least.

James Hooper believes Carrigan will miss the remainder of the regular season with a five week ban.

“In all likelihood the fact he’s been referred… I think Pat Carrigan is rubbed out for the rest of the season and he’s back for September,” Hooper said.

If Carrigan cops a five game ban, it is confounding how he wasn’t sent off for the tackle or at the very least sin-binned.

On the other hand Gorden Tallis questioned why Carrigan is potentially meeting the same fate as Waddell who is out for five weeks due to an eye-gouge.

“If you tell me that tackle is as bad as an eye gouge… if someone has their fingers around your eyes I’d bite their fingers off,” Tallis said.

It raised the question of Hastings’ injury playing a part in the punishment, which comes back to Asofa-Solomona potentially facing a ban had he broken Egan’s jaw.

JARED WAEREA-HAGREAVES

The Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves escaped with a fine for an early guilty plea after being charged by the match review committee for a similar incident to Asofa-Solomona’s.

The Roosters star was penalized and placed on report for an elbow to the face of Manly rookie Zac Fulton while he was on the ground.

Waerea-Hargreaves’ punishment brings up two questions. Why was he not banned because a small fine is not a deterrent for these actions?

And given Asofa-Solomona’s incident is widely considered to be much worse than the Roosters star’s actions, why wasn’t the Storm forward charged by the MRC?

Referee Grant Atkins labeled Waerea-Hargreaves actions unacceptable.

“Jared can’t do what he did, that is unacceptable, that is why it is against you,” Atkins said.

But how can an unacceptable action on a rugby league field receive only a small $3000 fine.

Coupled with the Asofa-Soloma incident, a small fine for Waerea-Hargreaves and no punishment at all for the Storm forward offers no deterrent whatsoever for players who employ these grubby tactics.