Luke Keary charged by NRL over incident with referee Gerard Sutton in Roosters win

Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary has been charged over an incident with NRL referee Gerard Sutton during his side's controversial two-point win over Newcastle on Thursday night. The Knights were left fuming after Sutton failed to award them a late penalty when Kalyn Ponga appeared to be held down in a tackle, with the Roosters hanging on for the 22-20 win.

It wasn't the only eye-opening incident involving Sutton, with the whistleblower also caught up in a tangle involving Keary that's seen the Roosters star cop a $1000 fine from the NRL's match review committee. Footage showed the veteran Roosters playmaker grabbing the referee's arm after attempting to chase down Knights centre Bradman Best.

Players are strictly forbidden from making contact with referees in the NRL, and Keary was seen grabbing the official after Best made a break down the left side for the Knights. The incident happened in the opening minutes of Thursday night's game in Newcastle, with the referee entering Keary's field of vision before he grabbed Sutton and subsequently tumbled into Roosters teammate Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.

Vision showed Keary looking over at the referee after regaining his footing, while Sutton remained on his foot despite the contact. Upon reviewing the incident, however, the MRC slapped Keary with a grade-one contrary conduct charge on Friday morning. That carries a $1000 fine with an early guilty plea or Keary risks having to pay $1500 if he unsuccessfully challenges it.

It comes after Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes received a one-match ban for pushing referee Chris Butler during the Storm's win over the Warriors earlier this season. The decision to ban Hughes divided the NRL world, with the Storm questioning the charge in a strongly worded statement. Prior to the Hughes incident this year, Penrith five-eighth Jarome Luai was the most recent player sanctioned for making contact with a match official. Luai received a $1800 fine last season for pushing touch judge Chris Sutton while celebrating a try in a victory over Brisbane.

Newcastle fume over late Kalyn Ponga incident

The Keary incident came before a dramatic conclusion to Thursday night's clash as Newcastle scored a converted try in the final five minutes to reduce the deficit to two points. But Knights coach Adam O'Brien was left to bemoan a controversial late refereeing call from Sutton, who waved away appeals from the home side that Ponga had been held down after making a late break down field.

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With Ponga keen to get a quick play-the-ball to help his side try and snatch victory at the death, Junior Pauga appeared to have a second crack at Ponga to hold him down, before Angus Crichton came in late to slow things down further. Many felt Crichton's actions warranted a penalty at least, and some felt he should have been sin-binned for a professional foul.

Crucially, Sutton didn't call held until after Pauga's second attempt, with the referee of the belief that the Roosters winger fell off the initial tackle. This would have meant Ponga was free to keep running, and Pauga and Crichton had every right to go on with the tackle.

Many viewers thought Pauga's initial effort constituted a tackle on Ponga though and the subsequent attention on him should have resulted in a penalty for Ponga and a chance to slot a 45m goal to tie the game. Instead, Newcastle squandered their chance to score a try and win the game after Sutton called play on, with boos ringing out around the ground as the home fans vented their anger.

Knights coach says it was a 'clear' penalty on Kalyn Ponga

O'Brien said he felt his side should have been awarded a penalty but accepted they were simply not good enough on the night. “I empathise, these fans, they know footy," he said in his press conference. "I don’t think I’ve heard a stadium so frustrated, never heard booing like that at the end of a game so there must be something in it.

“Obviously the Kalyn one at the end stands out, you’d like to think that (is penalised) as a professional foul, sin bin, and we kick the goal… I think it was pretty clear, that one. With the ruck speed, it just felt like there were two different standards there. Not taking anything away from them, they work hard at their defence and stack really well, but just felt like we didn’t get many rewards.”

The Roosters' third win of the season came after a masterclass from Joey Manu, playing at fullback in place of sidelined skipper James Tedesco (concussion). Manu ran for more than 300 metres, provided a try assist and made 11 tackle busts for the Roosters in a display that left many questioning why rival clubs haven't made multi-million dollar offers to sign him as a fullback.

with AAP