'Targeted man': Eels complain to NRL over Sharks 'atrocities'
The Parramatta Eels are set to complain to the NRL over the treatment given to Mitchell Moses, with the club privately fuming after what they believe were attempts to rough up their half-back last weekend.
After picking up a narrow 18-16 win over the Eels, Cronulla could be without matchwinner Teig Wilton, who was charged with grade two dangerous contact after taking out an airborne Moses' legs.
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It was the second such incident in which the Eels felt Moses was deliberately targeted, after he copped a corked quad from Sharks centre Jesse Ramien in the first half.
Ramien slid straight into Moses' knees after the latter scored a first half try, resulting in serious discomfort for the rest of the match for Moses.
According to the Daily Telegraph, while the club is unwilling to be seen as sore losers in the wake of Cronulla's 79th minute comeback, head of football Mark O'Neill is planning to take up the incidents with NRL head of football Graham Annesley.
“I would prefer not to make any comment other than I will address it with the NRL through the appropriate channels," he told the newspaper.
While the club itself is keeping quiet, other than the brief comment from O'Neill in the wake of Wilton's one-match suspension, others are more fired up.
Moses' uncle, former NRL player Ben Elias suggested Moses was a 'targeted man' and predicted it would take a spate of serious injuries for the league to enact common sense change, describing his nephew as a 'targeted man' to the Telegraph.
“Those atrocities aren’t in the laws of rugby league,” Elias said.
“It’s obvious he’s getting all this extra attention, like the great players do.
"Mitchell isn’t a whinger, he’s far from a whinger, but you have to abide by the rules and protect those star players.”
Sharks could lose matchwinner Teig Wilton over Mitchell Moses incident
About 12 hours after his 79th-minute try in the 18-16 win over the Eels, Wilton was charged on Sunday morning for dangerous contact on a kicking Moses.
The Sharks second-rower will cop a one-game ban with an early guilty plea, while the suspension will double to two weeks if he fights it and loses.
Moses was in the air when tackled after kicking, with the Parramatta halfback battling a cork in his quad.
The ban adds to Cronulla's back-row challenges, with Wade Graham still not due back from an ankle injury.
Elsewhere, the NRL's discrepancies between the men's and women's game have been highlighted with different punishments for crusher tackles.
While North Queensland's Tom Gilbert can accept a fine for a grade-one crusher on Canberra winger Semi Valemei, Gold Coast women's star Georgia Hale will be banned for the exact same offence.
The NRL changed judiciary rules just hours before the kick-off of the men's season, allowing for a fine for grade-one crusher tackles rather than 150 demerit points being incurred.
However, by that point the women's season had already begun, with the NRL not wanting to change the rules two weeks in.
It means Hale will miss the Titans' last-round clash with Newcastle with an early guilty plea, while she would also miss the semi-finals if she fights the charge and is unsuccessful.
The women's season also operates on slightly different rules to the men's, with warnings rather than fines for minor offences and proportionate bans for the shorter season.
With AAP
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