Madness in the State Championship grand final

So the grand final was an absolute belter, that we can all agree on.

I personally didn’t want any of the top four teams to win but out of them I was cheering hardest for the Cowboys.

In that game I felt Johnathan Thurston did not deserve the Clive Churchill. I actually thought that Anthony Milford deserved the Medal, even if he was on the losing side. However, as much as this did irk me a little bit there was a much much bigger issue that occurred on grand final day and that was in the game between the Newcastle Knights and Ipswich Jets.

Before I go any further I am a Knights fan – a very tough job – so you may take my opinion as biased.

At the 61st minute in the game a Knights player put up a bomb in the Jets’ half. Jake Mamo on the chase through was held by an Ipswich player at almost the play ball and was thus unable to run through and contest the ball.

After the bomb was caught and Mamo was running back to the line, he first gets shouldered by one Jets player, immediately after this shoulder he is then pushed in the chest by another Jets player and immediately after that his head is rocked back as he is pushed back in the head by another Jets player.

Mamo then proceeds to push the third player back and get into a scuffle with this player. Billy ‘Madness’ McConnachie is then seen to run up to the melee and with a closed fist punch Mamo in the side of the head. Mamo immediately falls to the ground and is bent double over his legs.

As this is occurring and the replays are being shown, one of the most well known and well listened to commentators of our game is giving a shameful commentary about what is occurring.

Phil ‘Gus’ Gould is having a laugh about a young 21-year-old kid being knocked out by another player. Granted he thinks that he was punched in the ribs but how does that make it any better?

He then proceeds to say something along the lines of ‘from what he knows of Jake Mamo he gets himself into these sorts of scuffles.’

What does Phil Gould know of this kid Jake Mamo? If he is going on about what was occurring in the game he should re-watch it. Throughout the whole game he was being niggled and harassed by the Jets players. Was he giving it back? Probably. Was this a specific tactic by the Jets players? Maybe. Did it work? Yes it did.

But did Mamo deserve to be punched, whether in the ribs or in the head? Of course not. Were they not good enough to hit him with a legal hit?

So what was the outcome of this punch to the side of the head? Sent off right? No. There was not even a report for the actions.

After the match a comment came from another absolute disgrace on the game of NRL, Chris Walker. He said Mamo deserved the rough treatment after accusing him of harassing the Jets, “Madness is one of our leaders and I’m glad he did stick up for them. They might put Jake Mamo on report for trying to headbutt his fist.”

Is it a joke when someone king hits another person on the side of the head?

The outcome of this disgraceful king hit was a simple two-week ban. That’s it.

The reason for this disgracefully low decision was due to apparently ‘not enough evidence’. As Newcastle boss Matt Gidley said “he would be facing criminal charges” if this happened in society, so why the leniency? Danny Green, a well known spokesperson, was also disgraced with the act.

Yes I know that the Knights players were not angels too. In fact I was cheering for the Jets until that incident occurred. The two Knights wingers were terrible, in both play and with their niggle. There was one video of one the wingers punching a Jets player while on the ground. He should have been sent off too and he should be heavily punished.

In my opinion I think Phil Gould needs to apologise for his disgraceful commentary that almost made light of a person being punched and having a concussion. ‘Madness’ should be banned for at least eight weeks, and Chris Walker should also be reprimanded.

This type of violence is a thing of the past in our game, and we have to start treating it that way.