For those of you who missed it, Tevita Pangai Junior was slapped with a five-week suspension on Tuesday evening as a consequence of his crusher tackle on James Maloney in the final stages of Brisbane’s 24-12 victory over the Panthers.
There have been several cases this year leaving fans and players dumbfounded at the verdict dished out by the judiciary. James Graham even stated on NRL360 that “it seems like going to the judiciary is a bit of a lottery this year.”
Graham also said, “It seems excessive; I know there’s loading and stuff, but five weeks for that? It seems a bit over the top.”
It was an ugly tackle that was unnecessary, especially considering the game had been won already at that stage, but to be handed a suspension that will likely end his involvement in the remainder of the Broncos season is overkill, especially considering Melbourne prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona was charged for a similar incident a couple of weeks ago where he was cited for dangerous contact to the neck/head of Broncos forward Patrick Carrigan.
But he was free to play against the Rabbitohs in Round 21 after an early guilty plea.
Tevita Pangai Junior gets suspended for five weeks whereas Asofa-Solomona was free to play the following week.
You may recall earlier in the year there was a series of incidents in what can only be described as “spear tackles” to which we saw three very similar incidents and the judiciary handed out three very different punishments.
Nick Cotric was sent off during the match and suspended for three weeks with the early guilty plea, Issac Luke was faced with a two-week suspension but fought the charge and lost, ultimately leading to a three-week suspension and Jake Trbojevic, who basically dumped Jahrome Hughes on his head in what was very reminiscent of, if not worse than, the prior two tackles, gets off scot-free.
Issac Luke of the Warriors. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
Then, of course, we have serial offender Josh McGuire given three chances of blatant eye-gouging before seeing a suspension whereas Canberra forward Hudson Young copped five weeks with an early guilty plea for his first offence. You would think McGuire would have learned, counted his lucky stars and quit using his grubby tactics, but alas a leopard doesn’t change their stripes and eventually, they got him after multiple infringements.
But why did it take so long? How did the match review committee deem his offences only minor and issuing fines when they were very similar to Young’s and he copped five weeks?
Fans and players are left scratching their heads wondering how on earth did the judiciary and the match review committee reach that conclusion over many of the infringements that have happened during this NRL season. Only one thing can be said for certain and that is the judicial system in the NRL is so unpredictable that the only consistency in this process is the inconsistency.
kimboinbrisbane
Roar Rookie
That the Lodge incident occurred overseas is irrelevant to the NRL. That can be seen by NRL preventing Lodge from playing in the NRL for TWO YEARS. I repeat - Lodge DID NOT put anyone in hospital. Wighton did, and got a paltry 10 week suspension. His offences were far worse than Lodge’s. And Wighton has not been vilified remotely (if at all) to the extent Lodge has in the media.
TAZZ
Roar Rookie
Thats because Lodges incident was overseas and the NRL has no influence in the USA
kimboinbrisbane
Roar Rookie
While strongly agreeing Matt Lodge should not have did what he did, he didn’t put anyone in hospital. He paid a heavy price, both in terms of money and his NRL career. He didn’t play NRL for over two years. Meanwhile, Jack Wighton DID put someone in hospital as a result of his drunken violence in 2018. He got a slap on the wrist punishment wise compared to Lodge. He got suspended for 10 games and a $30,000 fine by the NRL. To cap it all off he gets further rewarded with NSW selection this year. Rather smells of hypocrisy doesn’t it. Lodge got and still gets crucified, while with Wighton nothing further gets mentioned- like it never happened.
TAZZ
Roar Rookie
The biggest proble with the NRL is the bigger the offensive the bigger the non-punishment. Matt Lodge still is the NRL despite committing several crimes in a overseas incident. If he was in the NFL he would of been jailed, but the NRL not only bring him back but increase his pay. Andrew Johns, known drug user but they pay him to do terrible commentary on channel 9 and they made him an immortal, disgraceful. But the inconsistences on the field are even worse. Smith eye gauges someone he gets a letter, but a Burgees brother deos it and he gets 8 weeks, go figure.
Jacob Simpson
Roar Rookie
Valid point Paul. In hindsight, Broncos should have probably taken the early guilty plea as his history wasn’t good. But if his tackle warranted 2 weeks surely so did Asofa-Solomona’s, he even did a crusher tackle against Souths and wasn’t punished. More highlighting the inconsistencies in the NRL and how there seems to be very different punishments for very similar offences. Problem is the players don’t know where they stand when they commit an offence, whether accidentally or not, because it’s so unpredictable what the judiciary will do
Paul
Roar Guru
I agree with the basic premise of your article Jacob, which is pointing out the inconsistencies of a judicial penalty system that seems flawed. That said, I don't think Pangai Jnr's penalty was either excessive or wrong. Under the rules as they currently exist, his tackle warranted a two game suspension, but he had carry over penalties from previous infringements this season which increased his time off. The Broncos then decided to ask for a downgrade that bumped it to 5 games. If anything, the Broncos have been negligent of they didn't point out to Pangai Jnr what would happen if he made another error in defence. They then compounded the problem by asking for a downgrade which was going to be a stretch at best and the judiciary only too 5 minutes to chuck it out. By all means overhaul the penalties to make them consistent with the crime, but for this season, players & Clubs have to know where they stand in terms of suspensions, if they do something that can earn a report. It might make a few guys think twice about their actions.
Bodgedog
Roar Rookie
Its disgraceful! The NRL needs to step up their game if they want punters like me to keep wasting money