Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon says the match review committee has become “difficult to understand” after he lost fullback Will Kennedy to a serious injury as a result of a hip-drop tackle that went uncharged.
Kennedy isn’t expected back until the final round of the regular season after he was forced to undergo ankle surgery following an ugly tackle by South Sydney’s Tevita Tatola in the 63rd minute of last week’s pulsating golden point battle.
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The incident has attracted very little interest during a week where Brisbane’s Patrick Carrigan was banned for four matches for fracturing Jackson Hastings’ fibula in a shocking tackle just hours after the Kennedy injury.
The Sharks sent an email to the NRL asking why Tatola hadn’t been charged, but the response they got left a lot to be desired just a week after Sharks lock Dale Finucane was suspended for two games for an accidental head clash.
“It’s getting difficult to understand,” Fitzgibbon said, confident that Kennedy may return ahead of schedule.
William Kennedy was the victim of an ugly tackle. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
“No one actually intends to do it. They are unfortunate and they are happening more than normal.
“But we lose a good player who’s an important part of our team for an extended period, and there was no charge.
“I didn’t understand the explanation, but it is what it is. The same goes for Dale with the head clash. We’ve got to move on.
“Kade (Dykes) gets an opportunity, which is really exciting. When things like that happen, you really don’t want to get stuck and dwell on what you can’t control. All I can control is the team that’s going to play this weekend.”
There is a silver lining to all of this, with Dykes set to make his NRL debut on Saturday in front of a packed house on Old Boys’ Day.
It’s a huge moment for the local junior who will become a third-generation Shark and will follow in the footsteps of dad, Adam, and grandfather, John.
Dykes has been in red-hot form in reserve grade, scoring eight tries and setting up another nine in his 13 games this season where he’s split time between fullback and in the halves.
Lachie Miller and his teammates celebrate a stunning try. Picture: NRL PhotosSource: Supplied
He’s been playing so well that he’s even pipped former sevens star Lachie Miller, who scored a slashing try on debut for Cronulla back in round 11.
“His form for Newtown has gotten to a point where (picking) him was undeniable,” Fitzgibbon said.
“We had a couple of weeks where we were rotating between him and Lachie Miller. Both really were pressing for selection. He’s got really good balance and speed and footwork so hopefully we can see some of his best attributes from him tomorrow.
“It was a hard decision based on Lachie’s debut.
“If you have a rewards system based on NSW Cup, training, performance etc, then Kade got to a point where it warranted an opportunity.
“I will say Lachie has been performing well and has been pressing for selection as well, so Lachie has some utility value and I do see Lachie playing again for us soon.
“It was difficult in that regard but also really exciting for Kade because he earned the opportunity.”
The hype around Dykes is already building, but his coach is confident the 20-year-old will handle it days after he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2024.
“Young players who are exceptionally talented have a confidence about them so the hype doesn’t affect them too much,” Fitzgibbon said.
“Kade is a confident kid and really confident in his ability, so when you see the way that they mingle with the other players and the way that they train (you’re not worried).
“This is Kade’s first season against has men and he’s been one of the strongest performers in the competition.”
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon says the match review committee has become “difficult to understand” after he lost fullback Will Kennedy to a serious injury as a result of a hip-drop tackle that went uncharged.
Kennedy isn’t expected back until the final round of the regular season after he was forced to undergo ankle surgery following an ugly tackle by South Sydney’s Tevita Tatola in the 63rd minute of last week’s pulsating golden point battle.
The incident has attracted very little interest during a week where Brisbane’s Patrick Carrigan was banned for four matches for fracturing Jackson Hastings’ fibula in a shocking tackle just hours after the Kennedy injury.
The Sharks sent an email to the NRL asking why Tatola hadn’t been charged, but the response they got left a lot to be desired just a week after Sharks lock Dale Finucane was suspended for two games for an accidental head clash.
“It’s getting difficult to understand,” Fitzgibbon said, confident that Kennedy may return ahead of schedule.
“No one actually intends to do it. They are unfortunate and they are happening more than normal.
“But we lose a good player who’s an important part of our team for an extended period, and there was no charge.
“I didn’t understand the explanation, but it is what it is. The same goes for Dale with the head clash. We’ve got to move on.
“Kade (Dykes) gets an opportunity, which is really exciting. When things like that happen, you really don’t want to get stuck and dwell on what you can’t control. All I can control is the team that’s going to play this weekend.”
There is a silver lining to all of this, with Dykes set to make his NRL debut on Saturday in front of a packed house on Old Boys’ Day.
It’s a huge moment for the local junior who will become a third-generation Shark and will follow in the footsteps of dad, Adam, and grandfather, John.
Dykes has been in red-hot form in reserve grade, scoring eight tries and setting up another nine in his 13 games this season where he’s split time between fullback and in the halves.
He’s been playing so well that he’s even pipped former sevens star Lachie Miller, who scored a slashing try on debut for Cronulla back in round 11.
“His form for Newtown has gotten to a point where (picking) him was undeniable,” Fitzgibbon said.
“We had a couple of weeks where we were rotating between him and Lachie Miller. Both really were pressing for selection. He’s got really good balance and speed and footwork so hopefully we can see some of his best attributes from him tomorrow.
“It was a hard decision based on Lachie’s debut.
“If you have a rewards system based on NSW Cup, training, performance etc, then Kade got to a point where it warranted an opportunity.
“I will say Lachie has been performing well and has been pressing for selection as well, so Lachie has some utility value and I do see Lachie playing again for us soon.
“It was difficult in that regard but also really exciting for Kade because he earned the opportunity.”
The hype around Dykes is already building, but his coach is confident the 20-year-old will handle it days after he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2024.
“Young players who are exceptionally talented have a confidence about them so the hype doesn’t affect them too much,” Fitzgibbon said.
“Kade is a confident kid and really confident in his ability, so when you see the way that they mingle with the other players and the way that they train (you’re not worried).
“This is Kade’s first season against has men and he’s been one of the strongest performers in the competition.”
The NRL has been labeled embarrassing for their explanation as to why Storm star Nelson Asofa-Solomona escaped sanction for cracking Wayde Egan’s teeth with his elbow.
Asofa-Solomona was not even charged by the match review committee, despite being placed on report and penalized on the field for slamming his elbow and forearm onto the face of Egan as he fell to the ground in a tackle.
“There were a lot of incidents over the weekend with the Nelson Asofa-Solomona one the most contentious by a long way,” Braith Anasta said on NRL 360.
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“What I struggle to come to terms with is I saw a head clash (Dale Finucane on Stephen Crichton) last week get two weeks and I see this and he gets nothing.”
Paul Kent blasted the NRL’s feeble explanation by disputing all three assertions they made around Asofa-Solomona’s actions.
“Let me just bring up some things,” Kent said.
Big Nelson drops dodgy elbow? | 00:40
“They said, there is a separation out there. If I am going to punch you in the face right now, there is going to be separation at some point between my fist and your face before it gets there, but there will be eventual contact. That’s the first thing.
“Second, there was not enough force to warrant a charge. I have cracked his teeth. Two teeth. So not enough force to warrant a charge?
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Nelson Asofa-Solomona was placed on report and penalized but escaped a charge.Source: Supplied
“Third, there was possible contact to the neck and chin area. Again, I cracked his teeth.
“What part of head contact do they not understand there. If you have got cracked teeth from a tackle, how do you say there is not enough force and possible contact to the neck or chin area?”
Paul Crawley labeled Luke Patten and Graham Annesley’s explanation as the dumbest thing ever to come out of NRL HQ in a stunning take-down.
“That’s the dumbest explanation that I have ever heard come out of the NRL from Luke Patten,” Crawley said.
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Nelson Asofa-Solomona escaped sanction for his tackle on Wayde Egan.Source: FOX SPORTS
“For Graham Annesley, a bloke that has been around the game for as long as he has to stand there and allow that to be said and expect that everyone is just going to suck that up and accept it.
“Like seriously it is so embarrassing. They have got to be better.
“That was a shocking tackle. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves got a $3000 fine for his tackle on Zac Fulton. It wasn’t as bad as this.
“This gets off. This doesn’t even get to fine. This gets nothing.
“And this is on the back of Asofa-Solomona having two separate charges last week. Two ends. The week before in Round 18 another one. Earlier in the season another one.
“That’s four ends this year and this one gets nothing.”
Origin coaches Billy Slater and Brad Fittler have come under fire for suggesting Nathan Cleary be handed a lighter suspension due to his character and standing in the game.
Cleary accepted a five-week ban following his send off for an ugly lifting tackle on Eels star Dylan Brown over the weekend.
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Slater, however, couldn’t fathom Cleary being rubbed out for an extended period of time.
“Do we need to be wiping our best players out of the competition for a quarter of the season for one mistake that they make?” Slater said on Channel Nine’s Billy’s Breakdown.
It was a sentiment echoed by Phil Gould.
“I don’t think we need good players out of the game for six weeks to remind them that that’s not what you do,” he said on 100% Footy.
“That’s just an error of judgement. I know this Penrith tackling technique very well, he’s probably thinking his other two players would support that player a little better than they did. They pulled away from it and he found himself in an awkward position.
“Does Nathan Cleary need six weeks away from the game to learn his lesson that’s the wrong tackle to make? He knew it six seconds after he did it that it was wrong.
“They probably want to send a message to the rest of the competition, they want it to look like the star players don’t get special treatment.”
St George forward Aaron Woods, however, was enraged by the stance.
“Freddy and Billy Slater were coming out and saying ‘he’s a good bloke and we don’t want to be missing these good players before semi-finals’,” Woods said on triple m
“That’s bull crap if you ask me.
“He had a prior charge already on Billy Walters earlier on in the year.
“He would have got four weeks, but he had that and that’s an extra week.
“Freddy came out and said that Liam Martin helped it a bit – no he didn’t. He pulled off the tackle and you see Cleary re-grip and get a hand in between the leg.
“That’s the difference between the one with Karl Lawton at the start of the year…(that tackle) was fully momentum, he got around the waist with both hands and it was just a driving tackle and luckily (Cameron) Murray twisted and landed in a really good position.
“Dylan Brown was still on the ground, you could see how hurt he was and he (Cleary) had all the intent. Just because he comes out on Instagram and says ‘I’m sorry and it was totally out of character’ – that’s what happens on a rugby league field.
“Things can go one way or the other and it obviously had no malice, but that’s just part of the game.
Woods said Cleary was far from a clean skin
“It’s a joke – remember he got in trouble for the TikTok? People forget about that as well. I got 10 in the bin the other week and was like ‘mate you shouldn’t have done that’ but everyone else was like ‘sucked in’.
“If Jared Waerea-Hargreaves does the spear tackle, we’d give him life in this game.
“It just frustrates me, just because they are the players they like – call a spade a spade.”
The NRL360 panel also took aim at those suggesting Clearly be afforded special treatment.
“I heard Billy Slater talking after the game saying how Nathan doesn’t need five weeks on the sideline to realize he’s made a mistake, but you have to put him out,” Paul Kent said on Monday night.
“You just have to do that.”
“What do you mean he doesn’t need five weeks out to learn?,” Braith Anasta questioned.
“Because Nathan’s smart enough to correct it and he knows he made a blue,” Kent replied.
“But why was he saying, why was Billy Slater saying that,” Anasta hit back.
“He wasn’t agreeing with the five week penalty, he was thinking one or two weeks could have been enough,” Kent answered.
“Because it’s Nathan Cleary?” Anasta asked.
“Because it’s Nathan Cleary yes,” Kent said.
The Panthers will now play the remainder of the regular season with Jarome Luai out with a knee injury and Cleary hit with a five match suspension.
Originally published as ‘That’s bull crap’: Freddy, Billy slammed for staggering stance on Nathan Cleary ban
Origin coaches Billy Slater and Brad Fittler have come under fire for suggesting Nathan Cleary be handed a lighter suspension due to his character and standing in the game.
Cleary accepted a five-week ban following his send off for an ugly lifting tackle on Eels star Dylan Brown over the weekend.
Slater, however, couldn’t fathom Cleary being rubbed out for an extended period of time.
Clearly accepts five game ban | 00:45
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“Do we need to be wiping our best players out of the competition for a quarter of the season for one mistake that they make?” Slater said on Channel Nine’s Billy’s Breakdown.
It was a sentiment echoed by Phil Gould.
“I don’t think we need good players out of the game for six weeks to remind them that that’s not what you do,” he said on 100% Footy.
“That’s just an error of judgement. I know this Penrith tackling technique very well, he’s probably thinking his other two players would support that player a little better than they did. They pulled away from it and he found himself in an awkward position.
“Does Nathan Cleary need six weeks away from the game to learn his lesson that’s the wrong tackle to make? He knew it six seconds after he did it that it was wrong.
“They probably want to send a message to the rest of the competition, they want it to look like the star players don’t get special treatment.”
St George forward Aaron Woods, however, was enraged by the stance.
“Freddy and Billy Slater were coming out and saying ‘he’s a good bloke and we don’t want to be missing these good players before semi-finals’,” Woods said on triple m
“That’s bull crap if you ask me.
“He had a prior charge already on Billy Walters earlier on in the year.
“He would have got four weeks, but he had that and that’s an extra week.
“Freddy came out and said that Liam Martin helped it a bit – no he didn’t. He pulled off the tackle and you see Cleary re-grip and get a hand in between the leg.
“That’s the difference between the one with Karl Lawton at the start of the year…(that tackle) was fully momentum, he got around the waist with both hands and it was just a driving tackle and luckily (Cameron) Murray twisted and landed in a really good position.
“Dylan Brown was still on the ground, you could see how hurt he was and he (Cleary) had all the intent. Just because he comes out on Instagram and says ‘I’m sorry and it was totally out of character’ – that’s what happens on a rugby league field.
“Things can go one way or the other and it obviously had no malice, but that’s just part of the game.
Clearly MARCHED in 18th minute! | 00:45
Woods said Cleary was far from a clean skin
“It’s a joke – remember he got in trouble for the TikTok? People forget about that as well. I got 10 in the bin the other week and was like ‘mate you shouldn’t have done that’ but everyone else was like ‘sucked in’.
“If Jared Waerea-Hargreaves does the spear tackle, we’d give him life in this game.
“It just frustrates me, just because they are the players they like – call a spade a spade.”
The NRL360 panel also took aim at those suggesting Clearly be afforded special treatment.
“I heard Billy Slater talking after the game saying how Nathan doesn’t need five weeks on the sideline to realize he’s made a mistake, but you have to put him out,” Paul Kent said on Monday night.
“You just have to do that.”
“What do you mean he doesn’t need five weeks out to learn?,” Braith Anasta questioned.
“Because Nathan’s smart enough to correct it and he knows he made a blue,” Kent replied.
“But why was he saying, why was Billy Slater saying that,” Anasta hit back.
“He wasn’t agreeing with the five week penalty, he was thinking one or two weeks could have been enough,” Kent answered.
“Because it’s Nathan Cleary?” Anasta asked.
“Because it’s Nathan Cleary yes,” Kent said.
The Panthers will now play the remainder of the regular season with Jarome Luai out with a knee injury and Cleary hit with a five match suspension.
The NRL Match Review Committee has come under fire for some glaring inconsistencies regarding foul play in a confounding weekend of rugby league in Round 20.
Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona escaped sanction for an elbow to the face of Warriors hooker Wayde Egan, while teammate Josh King went unpunished for a potential eye-gouge.
Meanwhile, Titans hooker Aaron Booth escaped sanction for a cannonball tackle on Raiders forward Joe Tapine, while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves got away with a fine for a similar action to Asofa-Solomona’s, on Manly rookie Zac Fulton.
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And Broncos lock Patrick Carrigan was neither sin-binned or sent off for a hip drop tackle that saw him referred directly to the Judiciary and has him facing a lengthy ban.
Foxsports.com.au breaks down the five incidents to point out the stunning inconsistency from the MRC.
NELSON ASOFA-SOLOMONA
Asofa-Solomona was placed on report for an elbow/forearm on Warriors hooker Wayde Egan, but was not charged by the match review committee.
The incident in the fourth minute of the Storm’s win over the Warriors saw the Asofa-Solomona come down hard on top of Egan’s jaw with his forearm and elbow.
The Warriors rake had to leave the field and there were fears such an action had the potential to result in a broken jaw.
Andrew Johns smoked at the MRC for failing to take action against Asofa-Solomona for an incident that he believed could have resulted in an on-field send-off.
“It’s laughable,” Johns said.
“I back the players all the time, but for me that’s a four-week suspension.
“Nothing for that, or even fine? That’s close to a send-off. I can’t believe it.”
Ryan Girdler accused the MRC of not taking the rules seriously in a stinging rebuke of the Asofa-Solomona decision.
“It was very avoidable as opposed to running the football rather than when you are the defender,” Girdler said on Triple M.
“We spoke about Dale Finucane and the onus needs to be on the defender and there needs to be a duty of care to the player with the ball, especially now we see so many people in tackles and technique and holding and so forth.
“That needs to be taken seriously by the players.
“But if you want to take it seriously then the match review committee need to take it seriously as well.
“Letting Nelson get off with that sends a sign out there to the players, that sort of behavior is OK and it’s not.”
It begs the question, would the Storm star, who has formed, have been suspended or even sent off had he broken Egan’s jaw?
Any player that now finds himself in a similar tackle will be bringing up this Asofa-Solomona incident as their main defense in the future and a dangerous precedent has now been set.
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Nelson Asofa-Soloma escaped sanction for an elbow on Wayde Egan.Source: Supplied
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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King eye gouge raises questions! | 00:41
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.
Aaron Booth tackles Joe Tapine.Source: FOX SPORTS
“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.
Tapine binned for punching Titan | 00:23
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.
Patrick Carrigan’s hip-drop tackle.Source: Supplied
“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.
Carrigan’s hip drop injuries Hastings | 01:01
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?
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves escaped with a fine.Source: Getty Images
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.
