Advertisement

'Utter rubbish': NRL world up in arms over 'disgraceful' farce

Riley Morgan
·Sports Reporter
·4-min read
NRL and Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona (pictured left) hitting Parramatta's Makahesi Makatoa (pictured middle) with a head-high tackle.
The NRL has admitted Storm star Nelson Asofa-Solomona (pictured left) should have been sin-binned and banned for his high shot to the head of Parramatta's Makahesi Makatoa (pictured middle). (Image: Fox Sports)

The NRL has admitted Melbourne Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona should have received a ban for his swinging arm tackle on Eels prop Makehesi Makatoa.

Asofa-Solomona hit prop Makatoa with a swinging-arm while he was restrained in a two-man tackle during his team's 28-24 loss to the Eels.

'SHAME': Devastating twist after NRL star's match-winning heroics

'HE WASN'T HAPPY': Fresh twist emerges in Robbie Farah furore

CURIOUS: Was Thurston's slip-up telling about Ray Warren's future?

The Melbourne enforcer was put on report, but amazingly stayed on the field after the huge shot.

Asofa-Solomona was hit with a Grade 1 high tackle charge and fined $1,000.

The Storm star accepted the charge and won't miss a match as a result of the high tackle.

However, NRL's head of football Graham Annesley has admitted he disagrees with the punishment handed down after the brutal shot.

"We think that the referee should have put Nelson in the sin-bin for the incident," Annesley said.

"We are confident that the match review committee have been through the right process ... but we don't think that they've placed enough emphasis on the degree of force.

The Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona (pictured middle) is tackled during the round three NRL match against the Parramatta Eels.
The Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona (pictured middle) is tackled during the round three NRL match against the Parramatta Eels. (Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images) (Kelly Defina via Getty Images)

"Management were of the view that the level of force was more than (low to moderate).

"And we think that that level of force was enough to push the charge into the grade-two category."

Annesley admitted the tackle should have been a grade two charge, which carries with it a maximum two week ban.

NRL world fumes over Storm forward's punishment

Under new NRL rules, chairman Peter V'landys and chief executive Andrew Abdo can ask the review committee to re-assess incidents that go without charge.

But they have no scope to ask the committee to review matters that have already been charged, ensuring Asofa-Solomona's grade-one fine will stand.

In the live commentary, former NRL star Michael Ennis claimed the hit was 'deliberate', while commentator Andrew Voss labelled the incident "worse than a crusher tackle".

Many in the NRL community were left flabbergasted the Melbourne Storm enforcer wasn't sent to the sin-bin and punished further.

The NRL's admission comes ahead of the biggest judiciary case of the year on Tuesday night, with Newcastle second-rower Mitchell Barnett referred straight to the panel for an elbow to Penrith player Chris Smith's jaw.

Barnett has since apologised to Smith for the off-the-ball hit, and has pleaded guilty in a bid to take a week off the eventual ban while being represented by legal eagle Nick Ghabar.

At least a month on the sideline seems likely, given the match review committee deemed it worse than a grade-three offence that carries with it a five-week ban.

Anything beyond eight games, which has been called for by former NRL hooker Cameron King, would make it among the longest three bans in the NRL in the past decade.

with AAP

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.