Storm hardman Nelson Asofa-Solomona is getting away with too much according to Warriors interim coach Stacey Jones who remains “baffled” he wasn’t charged by the NRL match review committee for an incident which left Wayde Egan with two cracked teeth.
Jones went even further and said given Asofa-Solomona’s record of four charges in 2022, which have all resulted in fines, he could be due to a suspension if only to make him think more about his behaviour.
Egan was “rattled” by the incident in which Asofa-Solomona came down on top of him in a tackle last Friday which forced him from the field but was missed as only “minor contact by match review committee manager Luke Patten.
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Asofa-Solomona, who is yet to be suspended this season despite being charged three times for high tackles and one for making dangerous contact with a defender using his forearm, wasn’t even fined for landing his elbow on Egan’s face.
Patten said it was just a case of “two big men on a smaller man” in a prerecorded video shown at football boss Graham Annesley’s weekly media briefing on Monday and there was “no force applied to Egan’s neck”.
Jones, however, saw things differently and thought a chance was missed to send a signal to players about making contact in tackles.
“It’s not a good message,” Jones said, “It’s baffled me a little bit, like everyone else.
“We’re all about protecting our players. The game is so tough and physical.
“Wayde was really rattled. It could have been worse but I thought (Asofa-Solomona) could have at least been charged.”
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Jones said Asofa-Solomona, a New Zealand international, might need to be shown, though a suspension, that he needs to change his ways when tackling.
“It’s about protecting Nelson too, in some sort of way,” he said.
“He plays a physical game and the size of his body and the damage he could do to someone, it could turn out very nasty.
“I’m sure Nelson doesn’t want to have that on him.”
Jones confirmed both departing playmaker Chanel Harris-Tavita and Jazz Tevaga are unlikely to play again this season.
Harris-Tavita has suffered an MCL injury in his knee while Tevaga has a shoulder injury.
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