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NRL officials dropped over sickening Slater hit

Senior NRL review official Bernard Sutton has taken the bullet for failing to send off Sia Soliola for last weekend's sickening hit on Melbourne's Billy Slater.

The NRL confirmed on Tuesday that senior referee Matt Cecchin would retain his spot for Friday's clash between the Warriors and Cronulla, as had review official Bryan Norrie.

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However, Sutton was relegated to the role of a regular official in the bunker for his matches this weekend, with all of his games to be overseen by senior reviewer Luke Patten.

"The officials who were ultimately responsible for the decision, given it occurred in backplay, were the senior review official and the assist referee (Chris Butler)," Archer said.

Soliola looks on as Slater is taken from the field. Image: Getty
Soliola looks on as Slater is taken from the field. Image: Getty

"As a result, Bernie Sutton will not be a senior review official in round 21, and Chris Butler will officiate in Queensland Cup.

"It is my expectation that the assist referee firstly identifies incidents in backplay, while the senior review official should have taken stronger action due to the serious nature of this incident."

Sutton was in the best position to send off Soliola, with the bunker allowed to watch replays before deciding on the punishment for foul play. However the review official advised Cecchin to only put Soliola on report.

Cecchin leaves the field after the game. Image: Getty
Cecchin leaves the field after the game. Image: Getty

The decision to allow Soliola to stay on the field after his late hit on Slater has come under heavy fire, with many questioning what more players have to do to be sent off.

Cooper Cronk on Tuesday said Slater is still suffering headaches following Saturday's high hit from the Canberra forward.

"Billy's still nursing a sore head and doesn't really remember a whole lot," Cronk said.

The Test halfback said his take on the incident was that the hit was late and high and Soliola should have been sent off.

Cronk wants referees to enforce the immediate penalty with the game risking such an incident impacting on a grand final if they're reluctant to make the call.

"If you were in a grand final and you take out one of the leading players in the opposition knowing that there's no send-off offence and you'll cop a report after the grand final and miss a few weeks of the next season, I think that needs to change," Cronk said.

"It comes down to the actual adjudication and I don't want to judge the referees but you would think the situation - how it all unfolded, having the ability to see the replays, there should have been a harsher penalty on the night."

Soliola was hit with a five-game ban after fronting the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.

withAAP