Manly players fire back at Corey Parker after NRL great's swipe at Haumole Olakau'atu
Parker was incensed by the Manly star's Origin ban.
Manly forward Josh Aloiai has taken a very public swipe at Corey Parker after the former NRL star hit out over the two-game ban handed to Haumole Olakau'atu. The Sea Eagles were missing Olakau'atu for Sunday's 38-8 thumping of the Titans after the Manly wrecking ball was suspended for his part in Wednesday night's wild State of Origin melee.
Olakau’atu and South Sydney's Cameron Murray were both hit with two-match bans from the NRL after getting involved in a first half scuffle that spilled onto the sideline and saw numerous players charged in the Origin decider. Murray was on the bench at the time and was given 10 minutes in the sin bin but Olakau’atu was not in the Blues' 18-man match day squad and was seen entering the fray wearing a suit.
The Manly forward could been seen grabbing at Maroons winger Valentine Holmes to pull him away from the fracas and was subsequently evicted from the NSW bench and banished to the sheds. Both Olakau’atu and Murray copped the same suspensions for their roles in the drama, but a furious Parker said he thought the Manly player's ban should have been much longer.
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"The NRL have always staunchly stood up for the standards that need to be set," Parker said on SENQ. "Not just over what happens on a week-to-week basis on TV, but also on what filters down to the grassroots... Cameron Murray has been suspended for two weeks. I can cop that because at that point in time, he was on the bench.
"Olakau'atu is dressed in his Sunday civvies in a suit and is then involved in the melee. It's 100 percent unacceptable. A player not even in the game is getting a two week suspension. It's completely unacceptable. It's ludicrous. He should get six weeks at least." Following Manly's win over the Gold Coast on Sunday, Manly players Aloiai, Gordon Chan Kum Tong and Toafofoa Sipley were quick to fire back at Maroons great Parker.
Manly players hit back after criticism from Corey Parker
The Sea Eagles trio posed for a photo together after Sunday's win at 4 Pines Park holding a sign that read: "#FREESHMOLE" printed in block letters. The poster also contained an image of Olakau’atu behind bars. Aloiai shared the image to his Instagram account and tagged Parker's own personal account with the caption: “Shuuuush” and accompanied it with a short musical clip from Akon’s 2004 hit Locked Up.
Aloiai's post was an obvious dig at Parker and alluded to the fact Manly weren't happy with the punishment Olakau'atu received for what many thought was nothing more than a bit of push and shove during Wednesday's Origin game. It came after Manly CEO Tony Mestrov and Souths counterpart Blake Solly both shared their frustrations that representative bans carried over into club footy.
“What should happen, logic tells you, he should be suspended from the first Origin game next year and the same with Cam Murray,” Mestrov said. Despite the backlash, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo defended both the length of the bans for Olakau'atu and Murray as well as the fact they'd have to miss games for their clubs as a result.
“Players making a conscious decision to leave the bench – even if they weren’t playing in the match – and involve themselves in foul play is an extremely serious offence that the game doesn’t stand for at any level,” the NRL CEO said. Olakau'atu's absence didn't stop Manly from making it a homecoming to forget for former coach Des Hasler as they came from behind to thump the Titans on Sunday for a third straight win.
Tom Trbojevic was a standout for the Sea Eagles, scoring two tries, providing three more and notching five line break assists to help his side jump to fifth on the ladder. Olakau'atu will be missing again for Saturday night's crunch match against the fourth-placed Roosters as he serves the second and final game of his ban, with Sea Eagles winger Lehi Hopoate also sidelined after fracturing an eye socket in the first half against Gold Coast.
