The NRL judiciary wasted little time in rubbing Brisbane skipper Sam Thaiday out of Friday night’s local derby against Gold Coast as the panel took less than two minutes to find him guilty of touching a referee.
Thaiday’s argument that he had not acted against the spirit of the game carried little weight, the back-rower’s admission that he did not have to touch the pink shirt of referee Adam Devcich sealing his fate as he was found guilty of a grade-one contrary conduct charge.
Thaiday grabbed Devcich’s shirt to demonstrate how he had been held back at a scrum which prevented him from tackling Melbourne fullback Billy Slater as he raced away to score last Friday night.
While disappointed with the result, Thaiday quickly turned his attention to his teammates and his pregnant wife Rachel – who is due to give birth in a week.
“I’m disappointed but I thought I’d come down and see if I could play this weekend,” Thaiday said.
“(It was) a very fair hearing and at no stage did I want to bring the game into (disrepute) or be a bad sportsman or anything like that.
“I’ve accepted my penalty now.
“I’ll go back to Brisbane and support my team 100 per cent and get behind them this weekend against the Titans and prepare myself for the Cowboys in two weeks.
“I’m happy with the hearing, I’ve got to jump on a plane now because my wife’s pregnant and she could pop any minute.”
The panel’s response was as brief as their deliberation.
“Thank you for your frank submission, but we find you guilty,” was the verdict of Mal Cochrane, who was joined on the panel by Chris McKenna and Paul Whatuira.
Thaiday as his defence counsel Peter Shields mounted three arguments in a bid to get the Queensland and Test representative off.
They claimed Thaiday should never have been in the position where he was remonstrating with the referee because the try should not have been awarded in the first place, he did not touch the referee but rather his shirt, and that his actions were not against the spirit of the game.
Thaiday also claimed the relationship between players and referees had become more relaxed in recent years, with first names and nicknames now the norm for officials addressing players.
Shields provided evidence from referees boss Daniel Anderson that the try should not have been awarded.
Of the shirt tug, Thaiday said:
“I was trying to get an explanation out of the referee as to whether we could pull shirts.
“It was a pinch to me.
“It’s very hard to do anything with a mouthguard in your hand.”
As to the tone of his conversation with Devcich, Thaiday said:
“As calm as I could in the circumstances, I was pretty frustrated the try had been awarded.
NRL prosecutor Peter Kite said touching the jersey constituted touching the referee, adding:
“There can be no doubt it could have been avoided.”
Andy_Roo
Roar Guru
Seems Gidley, I think it was gave the ref a tap on the hip after a penalty to St. George early in their game on Sunday. Will be interesting to see what happens here.
Jaiden Florimo
Roar Rookie
As i said on the Big Sport Breakfast today, its not the crime of the century but you cant touch referees. As simple as that.
Jaiden Florimo
Roar Rookie
you have just recieved a warning from me for your ridiculous post. Give yourself a triple.
Jaiden Florimo
Roar Rookie
100% correct.
Larry Hartigan
Guest
I reckon its Refs who should be suspended for allowing those pitiful excuses for scrums to continue each week in NRL...how can anyone keep a straight face including the half who sticks it anywhere except the tunnel....how can anyone in NRL actually have a position of Hooker?...when is the last time a hooker,hooked or a scrum went against a feed....the lock should be called the hooker in modern day NRL....hasnt anyone ever seen a Union scrum?....why even bother with NRL scrums?...why not dream up something that actually gives the other team a competitive chance?....every other change made to NRL rules is rrelevant until someone actually mentions the Emperor has no bloody clothes on.....an NRL scrum is an insult to everyone's intelligence....sure I have not played League since the late 50's when a scrum was still a scrum and something to be adjudicated by a Ref..Sam touching a Refs shirt?....pleassee sort out your obvious priorities NRL...
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Thaiday should have argued, he was just checking the quality of the ref's shirt thread. Seriously touching theref is a no go fullstop ,end of story.
kid
Guest
Thats not what passive agressive is but your right it was a no brainer.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
I agree the injuy shouldnt come ino it but the penalty should reflect the worst injury that could have occured. Such tackles have been made illegal as a prevention not a cure.
planko
Roar Guru
Roar gold. Chris what would have happened to the ref in a brisbane night club ? Lets not go there .....
thomascrown
Guest
Oikee - would u please stop whinging about the Bronco roster already? They have 6 origin players and 5 internationals so it cant be that bad when u compare it to Parra who have 1 origin player and 0 test players, even Penrith and Canberra look really lean compared to Brissy.
Chris Martin
Guest
Of course Sam Thaiday tugged at his shirt , he didnt have 2 of his teammates holding the ref already. If the ref had 2 Broncos already on him Thaiday would have been third man in and smashed him.
planko
Roar Guru
What are you talking about ... Guys are getting removed from the field for concussion every week. 95% of these tackles are "LEGAL". Players do not get sentenced at judiciary based on the other players injuries. Well at least they should not. I don't have a problem with Thaiday only getting a week but a clear message should get sent next one to touch the ref gets 5 weeks. Any sport anytime don't touch referee's.
planko
Roar Guru
Should have bought Dugan ..... LOL Oikee your team deserved the points against Melbourne you showed them up a little in my books.
Hollywood
Guest
Really.... A week for that??! And only five weeks for trying to kill a bloke by dropping him on his head? That should have been 26 weeks!!! -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
Bob Francis
Guest
1 week for shirt tugging 1 week for reckless high tackle were another player missesa game from concussion go figure!
oikee
Guest
Good sign of a captain, except your punishment, move on. I was super impressed with the Broncos the other night, but the fact remains, they still got beaten , nothing has changed. The Warriors on the other hand, busted beant and broken, reward, a win. It might be their only win of the season, but a win is a win. The Broncos are not winning, and they are now losing Ciorey Norman next year who seems to have stepped up, and they still dont have any superstars on their books. England is calling, Tomkinson has also got a youngetr Brother, bring em both over Broncos, stop this junior rubbish and bringing them through or we will never win another premiership. Go out and buy some superstars. The Premiership draught is now streaching to 10 years. Unless you buy one like other teams are doing, take a leaf out of the Dogs and Roosters books. Buy some superstars.
Stu
Guest
Players should not be touching referees fullstop. An appropriate outcome.
Meesta Cool
Guest
Crazy, crazy, crazy, -- there was no malice in the action at all. c',mon judiciary wake up to reality, an apology and a warning would have been sufficient!.. There are far more things going on weekly that deserve a weeks suspension, without this kind of crap!.
Nova Girl
Guest
Funny how the media have missed that Thaiday is only missing a match because he has carry over points. He isn't getting a week for touching a referee.
solly
Guest
That was a no-brainer. Of course he was not going to win. Especially with a passive-aggressive tug of the shirt like he did.