Big ban ends Raiders star’s NRL career
Elliott Whitehead has likely played his last game in the NRL after the Raiders skipper was charged three times by the match review committee.
The back-rower faces a lengthy ban for his hip-drop tackle that has ended Brandon Smith’s season.
The Englishman is facing a 3-4 game ban after he was hit with a grade 3 dangerous contact charge for a tackle on Smith late in the first half.
There are fears the Roosters hooker has suffered a season-ending knee injury, but the club can’t confirm anything until this afternoon as he was meeting with specialists in the morning.
Whitehead is joining UK Super League side Catalans next season, which means he has played his last game for Canberra if he takes the early guilty plea, unless the Raiders beat the Dragons and then the Dolphins and Knights game finishes in a draw.
He was sin-binned for the tackle and earnt the ire of Roosters coach Trent Robinson, with Whitehead revealing he tried to apologise to Smith after the game.
“I didn’t mean to do that to Brandon. I know he’s come up with a bad injury and stuff, and I’m sorry to him for that,” he said.
“I went over to ask about Brandon and Trent Robinson’s had a go at me.
“I went to apologise, and he’s turned on me, so the way he’s done that I thought (he) was out of order.”
Robinson wasn’t going to mention the interaction until it got brought up in the post-match media conference.
“He came up and just wanted to ask how Brandon was, and I just said it was too many times. The hip-drop’s been pretty common in his game for a long time, and I just said it’s too many times. It’s cost us a player,” Robinson said.
“That was it. He said it was an accident, and I just said ‘Look, you’ve done it too many times’. That was it.”
Whitehead has also been fined a total of $3600 for two separate incidents – a bizarre kicking action while Angus Crichton had the ball that saw him spend another 10 minutes in the bin, and a trip on James Tedesco in the final minute of Sunday’s frantic contest.
Crichton is also facing a $1000 fine for a careless high tackle, but that’s low on the list of the Roosters’ concerns as they count the physical cost ahead of the finals.
The club has confirmed halfback Sam Walker has ruptured his ACL in a brutal blow for the young playmaker who is looking to sort out his future beyond next season.
The club will lose Luke Keary, Joseph Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, with veteran Chad Townsend and Sandon Smith set to be the halves pairing to start the 2025 season unless the club goes to market.
They have plenty of cash to spend and might have to go after another hooker if Smith has ruptured his ACL, with Blues utility Connor Watson the likely option to play dummy-half for the finals.
The Roosters are also sweating on scans on Victor Radley’s shoulder, with fears he’s broken his scapula, while Nat Butcher will miss Friday’s clash with Souths after he failed his head injury assessment.
