Manly have come to the unlikely defence of the NRL following widespread criticism that Melbourne centre Curtis Scott’s two-match ban for striking was too lenient.
The NSW State of Origin hopeful on Monday pleaded guilty, accepting the match review committee’s suspension for punching Sea Eagles centre Dylan Walker on Saturday night.
Walker has been ruled out for six weeks with a fractured eye socket when Scott connected with one of his punches.
Some critics argued Scott should be sidelined for a similar time period.
After engaging in a running verbal battle with Walker all night, Scott lashed out at the Sea Eagles’ serial niggler and was sent off.
He copped a grade-three striking charge, but the angst over what was regarded as an inadequate ban was heightened because it was whittled down from three weeks to two weeks due to NRL rules.
Under the laws of the game, the number of fine points a player incurs is reduced for every minute off the field.
Because Scott was sent off with 28 minutes to go, his penalty dropped from three weeks to two.
However, Manly refused to join the pile-on and censure NRL CEO Todd Greenberg.
“There are rules and we’ve all signed up for those and we understand where they are,” Manly CEO Lyall Gorman told AAP.
“With these things there’s an appropriate protocol and process to go through.
“At the end of each year there’s a review of the structure and regulations and that’s the appropriate forum for it.”
Many pointed to the fact that Scott’s ban is the same length as the suspension which Canberra forward Joseph Tapine is facing, accusing the MRC of inconsistency.
Tapine was cited for a shoulder charge during the Raiders’ 25-18 loss to St George Illawarra.
Tapine collected Dragons fullback Matt Dufty in the 40th minute on Sunday and was issued with a grade-one charge, with an early guilty plea to reduce the penalty from 280 points to 210.
The NRL came in for widespread condemnation after Dylan Napa was not charged for a tackle which resulted in Brisbane’s Korbin Sims suffering a broken jaw.
Broncos coach Wayne Bennett accused the MRC of failing to exercise their duty of care and accused the game of having an anti-Brisbane bias.
Some also considered Manly hooker Api Koroisau got off lightly after he ran in to punch Scott from the side in the same melee.
Koroisau was given 10 minutes in the sin-bin and suspended for one week, with many considering his offence more serious than Scott’s.
Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona accepted the $1,500 fine offered to him for a careless high tackle on Sea Eagles forward Jake Trbojevic.
Tapine’s Raiders teammate Josh Papalii has been offered a $1350 fine, if he pleads guilty to a careless high tackle charge, also on Dufty, in Sunday’s game
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