Jared Waerea-Hargreaves not charged for the high shot that laid out Johnathan Thurston in the Test match in Perth on Saturday night? Really?
I’m not saying hang him. When he wrapped his arm around Thurston’s head, it bent (I’m talking about Waerea-Hargreaves’ arm in this instance, not Thurston’s head, although that bent too), so it wasn’t your classic coat-hanger.
But he got him, and – most importantly – Thurston was hurt, so, no charge at all? Not even at the minor end of careless? Nothing? Come on.
It’s worth asking, as well, whether Thurston should have been taken off for a more thorough concussion assessment before being allowed to continue playing.
The non-charging of Waerea-Hargreaves ahead of the Four Nations tournament just doesn’t look right. (Click to Tweet)
What would have been enough for a player to get charged, in the knowledge that any suspension would force that player to miss at least part of the Four Nations?
There is never going to be any such thing as a warm-up Test between the Aussies and the Kiwis, so if someone steps out of line enough to be charged then let’s at least be a little bit fair dinkum, even if the charge is low enough that with a guilty plea they still avoid suspension.
It was always going to be a very willing match and that awesome pre-match Haka by the Kiwis certainly set the tone in terms of intensity.
It was a ripper – and the first half was pretty good as well. Not classic attacking rugby league, but plenty of fire and heavyweight collisions. The intensity was high and it was engrossing to watch as Australia went to halftime leading 8-6.
But the game gradually fell away as a contest in the second half and the Kiwis were their own worst enemies, with too many mistakes and a string of poor last-tackle options.
It was one of those mistakes that turned the ball over and led to the Valentine Homes try in the corner which, converted by Thurston, pushed the lead out to 14-6.
Australia controlled the game without many problems from that point and will start their Four Nations campaign with confidence after the 26-6 win.
But they will know from harsh experience that what you sometimes get from New Zealand in a one-off Test can be way different from what you get from them in a series, when they get the chance to improve from training and playing together over the course of a month or more.
There is plenty of room for improvement in the Kiwis and it is room they are at least capable of mostly filling.
Some of those last-tackle options were extraordinarily bad for the number one-ranked team in the world.
Jordan Kahu is very safe and reliable at fullback for the Kiwis. He was tested by some tricky kicks along the ground and cleaned the ball up every time. But he is not threatening in attack.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall has bounced between wing and centre during his career. He played centre on Saturday and his performance explained why he has played a lot of games on the wing.
Co-Dally M player of the year Jason Taumalolo wasn’t nearly the force he should have been from lock, but that is surely one of the things the Kiwis can fix. There is no reason he can’t explode in the Four Nations.
Martin Taupau was great off the bench for them.
Australia coach Mal Meninga combatted the size of the Kiwi pack by increasing the size of his own pack, but only with forwards who had some key things going for them apart from their bulk.
Shannon Boyd has tremendous power and a quick play-the-ball for a big man, Boyd Cordner is an athlete and Trent Merrin has great foot-work and is always a chance to offload.
The Aussies moved the Kiwis around and kept the pace of the game up, which helped to wear the opposition down over time.
But the Four Nations will be a whole new tournament on its own, played on the other side of the world in the UK, and the Kiwis, with their new coach, David Kidwell, will surely learn from this experience and be better off for it.
The Aussies have laid down the gauntlet, but that’s all at this stage. And we’ve still got to see what Wayne Bennett can come up with as coach of England.
Aem
Guest
If you charge JWH, you probably have to slap a penalty on the Kangaroos for failing to follow concussion protocol. As a Kiwi, I wish JWH did get charged, and a nice long suspension - first of all because he undeniably did it, but more importantly so we know that we won't have him forced on us by Kidwell again!
steve b
Roar Guru
It did derserve a look it was careless.
Emric
Guest
I suppose Ccechin will get more games but a forward pass for NZ's try and then the only 4 penalties they get are for inocuous alleged hold downs etc in the tackle when they are struggling in their own 22 so the obvious conclusion is they wanted to keep it close.
steveng
Roar Rookie
'zim' JT got the penalty so lets 'just get on with it' and not have all this silliness of putting JWH in the sin bin and even that JWH should have been sent off?? What??? Test matches should be the epitome of RL, skillful, rough, tough and the more 'mongrel' the better, like it use to be in the old days. JWH's 'head high' was accidental and Chechin ruled accordingly.
bearfax
Guest
Aw come on Scrum. Cut it out. We arent looking for the truth of the matter here. We're not interested in player safety because these guys are merely gladiators sent out there for our entertainment and to win the game. Heaven help us. If we started to think too much of what happened to McKinnon, we might have to actually work on protecting the players as much as possible from serious harm. Cant have that. Would spoil the spectacle.
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
It was a regulation tackle. But JT dropped and JWH got him flush on the nose. On-field penalty was sufficient. Move on.
scrum
Roar Rookie
What is all the fuss about. RL has a very lax attitude toward foul play and look for any possible reason to excuse the offender. I remember the very week after Alex McKinnon suffered his injury Greg Inglis was uplifted and would have landed on his head from a vertical position except he put his arm down to break his fall- an extremely dangerous position. Not even a Penalty- the explanation- caused by Inglis's running style. - an explanation beyond incredulous but accepted by the media as this is the norm for RL
Doogs
Guest
Yes I don't think he really intended to hurt him, it was a careless tackle. Looked damn ugly but clumsy more than anything. Kiwis will go better if they work on that last tackle option.
BrainsTrust
Guest
So if JT didn't bend down to collect the ball it would have been a regulation tackle? I wonder who left the gate unlocked?
Cedric
Guest
Gee there seems to be a lot about Jwh hit. Did the gillet shoulder to nightmares head only happen in my dream or Thurston trying to pull kahus face off not happen either. Plus several other incidents......if that had been Jwh putting a shoulder on Thurston head he may have called an assassin again by all and sundry......it was just a tough game of footy.
Jacko
Guest
I guess we differ on what is talent and what isnt. One bad game is what you decide your view of him on? Did you see the union WC final? The hype is the media, not the player. He had massive issues trying to hype his fights up as its not his personallity but if a guy that has won league premierships, union world cups, Bledisloe cups, Super rugby titles, and countless other trophies and awards plus a heavyweight champion of NZ belt is over rated then the rating must be MASSIVE. How is this the record of an overrated player? What rating are you using as there will be lots of others rated below these achievements and VERY VERY few above him IF ANY.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Main thing I recall regarding the hit in question was that it didn't actually look like an especially heavy hit -- it was on the snout so it obviously would've stung like hell but it's not as though Jared actually hit him hard enough to do significant damage (using an arbitrary measure: enough for a concussion check).
JACK Gilbert
Guest
Where do you get the word trounce from I don't think so, yes the Aussies won pretty well but two of there tries were ????????? [ think the kiwis will bounce back at the moment Johnson is still missing in action Jack
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Sauce is good but is Papalii gonna be good to come back?
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
Christov!!!! You dont come on here enough if thats the worst that you have seen...
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
He does have an extreme amount of hype about him does Money Bill. I guess hes a bit like Hayne in that regards. He gets hyped up because he is a brand more than a player. Both very good players and I enjoy the show that they are but both over hyped on their playing ability.
Christov
Guest
That's the worst piece of garbage I've read on here. JWH, useless? I don't think anybody who has played NRL is useless, let alone a regular first grader. SBW overated....sigh...
Raugeee
Guest
I stand by what I said about $BW. Recall the 2013 World Cup Final? He was useless. He looks good against a flagging defence, that's it. Don't get me wrong, he is a good player and if he was OZ would've played on the bench. The thing is his hype was way over the top. I am also not saying Dugan can't play at club level -I can only go by what I see of him at rep level and he is out of his depth.
Jacko
Guest
SBW second most overrated player in the world????? Surely you misspelt that also. Either that or you didnt bother watching him play and just hate him for some other strange reason. He is world class in union and league and the contract offers from all over the world prove that. Mind you, you also say Dugan doesnt deserve to be there yet you dont even watch him at club level to know what his form is like to know if he should be there or not.
Jacko
Guest
Cedric they all didnt get charged so at least there is consistancy coming from the test match but no consistancy will mean some other tackle, no better or worse than the ones mentioned will get 4 weeks.