There have been a lot of people calling for the St George Illawarra Dragons forward Tyrell Fuimaono to get a massive ban, wanting a suspension far in excess of the five games he will actually miss.
While there are really good reasons for him to miss many more games, the system as it operates won’t do it.
Looking at the ‘tackle’ that the 100kg forward enacted on a winger 10kg lighter, there is a pretty good argument for Fuimaono copping a bigger suspension.
Then when you consider he has been suspended in the last two years for a similar act it’s even harder to argue against the punishment being much harsher.
And worst of all, when you consider Haze Dunster had his season ended because Fuimaono’s illegal action ruptured the 22-year-old Eel’s ACL, PCL and MCL, you can really understand calls for the same sort of suspension being given to the Dragons forward that was handed out to Bob Cooper, Les Boyd or John Hopoate way back when.
Cooper copped a 15-month ban in 1982, Boyd was rubbed out for 12 and 15 months for acts of thuggery in the early 1908s while Hopoate was suspended for 17 games in 2005 for what would be his last disgraceful act on an NRL field.
The NRL charged Fuimaono with “dangerous contact – other,” which carries only a three-game suspension with an early plea, bumped up by 50 per cent for his prior similar offence in the previous two seasons, and another 20 per cent for prior non-similar offences in the last two seasons.
Tyrell Fuimaono of the Dragons is sent off for an alleged illegal shot on Ryan Papenhuyzen in 2021 (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
After taking the early plea, Fuimaono will miss just the first five instead of a possible seven rounds of the season.
On the flip side, Dunster – the young Kiwi from Rotorua, by way of the Wentworthville Magpies – now has to undergo a total knee reconstruction, followed by a minimum of six gruelling months of intensive rehabilitation, all the while hoping surgeons can make his knee functional and strong again.
Not only will he miss an entire season in the prime of his career, this injury may mean his prime has passed. It is unlikely he’ll ever be ever to run as fast again, or be as agile. And that knee will always be a risk of going again.
Speaking as a fellow reconstructee, while your knee can get better, it is never the same. Just last year I had to have another surgery on mine – busted while playing hacky sack while drunk – to remove detritus and stop it seizing up all the time. And I only did my PCL and busted my patella.
The Fuimaono tackle did to Dunster’s knee the equivalent of what Jason Gillespie’s shoulder did to Steve Waugh’s nose in Sri Lanka in 1999.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGu1eMhkAzc
It totally smashed it.
It is one thing for a person like me to do my knee. It is another entirely for a professional sportsperson. This is Dunster’s career, but the sensational speed of the man they call “Blazer” may never return.
And that is one of the main things that made him such a talented prospect. In his 13 games at the top level with Parramatta, the kid was fast. Really fast. But the Fuimaono hip drop in the 13th minute of Sunday’s trial may have ended that in an instant.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
It has been revealed that Fuimaono’s sister, Taliah, has been in a relationship with Dunster for the past six years.
That awkward connection doesn’t detract from the fact that it seems inconceivable that Fuimaono, a repeat hip drop offender, can miss just five matches for such a dreadful act.
What warning does that provide to other players to get that sort of ‘tackle’ out of their game?
Now juxtapose that punishment with Cronulla’s Braydon Trindall getting a two-match ban for a careless high tackle on Penrith’s Thomas Jenkins which many – including myself – thought was not worthy of a penalty, let alone a stint in the sin bin.
Jenkins clearly slipped at the line and his head accidentally collided with Trindall. Shades of Broncos forward Kobe Hetherington getting sent off in 2021 for having Canberra prop Corey Harawira-Naera fly into his shoulder. I’m not sure how Trindall could have avoided it.
Yet Fuimaono will miss just three more matches than the Sharks half.
The match review committee grading system analyses the level of incidents themselves and then those gradings are negatively impacted by previous offences, or – conversely – reduced by good records.
That Fuimaono’s offence only warrants five games shows their methodology needs an urgent review.
The hip drop is outlawed and needs a specific grading that is in the ‘reckless’ zone. You can put the cannonball and grapple tackles in there with it. Further, a repeat offence of a reckless act needs to be met with very heavy sanction to really bring the point home that it is not acceptable.
But to really make the grading system robust, it needs to see the inclusion of the impact of the offence being considered. That is just a reflection of the real world.
If someone goes drink-driving and gets caught by the police, they can expect a licence suspension, big fines and prohibitive insurance costs. We all know that.
We also know that if a person drives under the influence and causes a crash that kills people they can rightly expect to go to jail.
Similarly, if a person assaults another on the street they can expect to be charged for it and face the courts. If they assault someone and cause them permanent disability or damage then they can rightly expect to go to serve time behind bars.
In these scenarios, if the person is a repeat offender then the punishment is likely to be much heavier. These heavy punishments work brilliantly as disincentives for the majority of our society.
Heavy disincentives will also work in the NRL. Judiciary chairman Jim Comans’ crackdown in the early ‘80s was extremely effective in starting rugby league in Australia on the path away from the endemic thuggery that was an enormous blight on the sport.
While it is impossible to know whether Fuimaono’s action on Dunster was deliberate – and the family link suggests it almost certainly wasn’t – these are the facts:
- Tyrell Fuimaono performed an illegal hip drop tackle on Haze Dunster.
- As a result, Dunster’s knee has been severely injured, his season ended and his career possibly ruined.
- The Parramatta Eels have lost an outside back for the whole season.
- Fuimaono has been suspended by the judiciary a number of times in recent seasons, including for a head-high tackle on the Storm’s Cameron Munster, as well as for performing another hip drop tackle.
- Adding to that rap sheet, in 2019 he was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to hindering police in relation to a 2018 brawl on Oxford Street in the Sydney CBD.
- And of course he was one of the 11 Dragons players who breached the NRL’s COVID-19 protocols at Paul Vaughan’s notorious barbecue.
Given all of that, Fuimaono only missing five games means that something is seriously busted in the system.
Maybe even as badly busted as Dunster’s knee.
Pitty
Roar Rookie
The hit Fuimaono did on Pappy was a disgrace, no one is paying there hard earned to see that lazy and cheap tackling style, there paying to watch good tough footy and players like Pappy doing there thing. People wonder why there's such a big decline in kids playing anymore, parents see this stuff and the kid goes to soccer.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
Strange indeed. I also seemed normal in my last game, a semi final at Earl Park, Arncliffe. I was given the ball to kick a penalty goal. Everything seemed okay apart from it being very bright. I ran in and kicked the ball and it rolled about 50 centimetres and stopped. They took me off at half time and I woke up at the end of extra time to see an opposition player take an intercept to score the winning try. I was sitting with some friends from St.George Girls High and they told me I had been sitting motionless staring into space in some sort of trance for the whole of the 2nd half and extra time. As I was leaving the ground with my father I said "I shoul've taken your advice and played soccer".
Womblat
Guest
Yeah concussions are strange. Two minutes into the game I went in for a big shoulder charge, when they were legal of course. Next thing I'm playing the ball and the half time siren went. Those 35 minutes are... gawwwwn. Apparently I seemed normal during that period. A really bright Uni mate of mine got knocked cold one Sunday and we had an exam the next day, during which he made probably 50 dyslexic type spelling mistakes. Weeeeeird...
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I saw Dylan Napa get sent off for head butting in an ESL game. He was playing for Catalan Dragons.
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I remember Beau Scott at St.George-Illawarra as a strong defender and a team player in attack. I'd put him in with Gordon Tallis and Jeremy Smith as top deck hard men. Kevin Ryan was also tough, John Sattler said he didn't attack anyone, as he normally did, when Kevin Ryan was in their team.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Exactly Scott.
Rob
Guest
Sadly one of the best hip droppers I have seen is Beau Scott? If he wasn’t hitting playmaker late as the passed or kicked ( just had uncanny ability to time the shot) or tipping blokes into awkward positions he was hip dropping them. He was regarded as a good edge back rower achieving Origin and Australian selection for his intimidating defence? Gordon Tallis said he genuinely feared Scott defensively when playing? Coen Hess played the 2017 GF on one leg after getting hip dropped by Scott. Not sure if that actually lead to a loss in form for Hess the following year? Between Scott, T.Simms, Fuimaono I suspect more should be looked at when considering what constitutes a good defender.
Larry1950
Guest
Maybe the real point is how they deal with repeat offenders, much to my chagrin as a bronco supporter, that bloodnut prop of ours can’t seem to bend his back once he’s a bit fatigued. Hence, repeated high tackles & suspensions. Napa was similar leading with his head in tackles (must be on hard melon) & judiciary appearances. Mitchell seemed to get the red mist when opposed to Souths teammate Gagai in last seasons state of origin.
Rob
Guest
He swung his legs towards his own try line and pulled his opponent backwards? Okay it was at speed but that’s part of the danger of throwing a player over your hip. If he doesn’t get the injury it would probably have been let go but just like swinging an arm to knock a ball out is let go if hits a player flush on the jaw you get sent. It’s a judo throw and not a rugby league tackle. I expect those that have been bashing the Storm to be absolutely outraged by this blokes technique.
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
I'm not defending his action but I would bet the Clubs are not providing re-offenders with the support and guidance they require. As in the real world re-offenders are often those who lack a support network and guidance.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Compare the pair: Latrell Mitchell - sends Joey Manu into next week. Grade 2. Tyrell Fuimaono - performs a hip drop tackle. Grade 3. The judiciary is confusing. Not to say I don't think Fuimaono's tackle wasn't punishable - it was... But Grade 3 was excessive for the type of contact it was. There was a similar tackle in Monday night's trial between Canterbury and Newcastle, but because the player tackled got up and continued playing, it wasn't penalised, yet alone charged and suspended. Work that one out for me.
Rob
Guest
Run the gauntlet you deserve to be punished especially if those actions cause serious injury. Repeat offending and that sort of suggests you have no interest in changing your ways? I’m assuming he didn’t mean to do that damage to an opponent but it was a consequence of him not learning from before or not carrying about what his actions could do. Accidents happen but if you continue to tackle high and break someone’s jaw then you should get seriously whacked with a suspension. Bad luck is with the victim. How sad the victim will be lucky to play again whilst perpetrator will whinge about sitting out a few games?
Tim Buck 3
Roar Rookie
I got knocked out by a knee lifter who was running at high speed although I contributed with my own stupidity. I got a big head with all the applause from my first three good low tackles. During the year I got knocked out by a dirty player who was thrilled that he could knock someone out with one punch. He never even got sent off. I got knocked out while being driven home from a game when we stopped at the lights. I also had trouble thinking in HSC examinations. My brain overheated and stopped for a rest.
Mat P
Guest
The result has to factor into the punishment, no different to any other legal system.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Tim, you should be more concerned about how Wighton will go this year. What excuses are you going to have if your Raiders fail? Forget about Tyrell, it's done and dusted. Move on.
Redcap
Roar Guru
You seem a tad confused, Tim. Not to mention hysterical, though I'm glad you found the restraint to stop short of advocating Fuimaono be extradited to The Hague. You correctly note that the NRL judiciary considers priors when determining a sanction. You also listed Fuimaono's rap sheet, which is fine, but rather ignored that part of the judiciary's consideration is that he's already been sanctioned for his priors. In other words, they don't re-prosecute prior offences. As for weighting the impact of an offence on the victim. That's fine, in-principle. In practice, it's fraught with complication. I've seen far worse tackles than Fuimaono's hip drop, and I've seen the victims, though a stroke of luck, walk away largely unscathed. The perpetrators in such cases would logically argue that because their actions didn't result in any serious physical harm, their sanction should be less severe than others. Then we get to impacts that are not immediately apparent, but only manifest later. I'm sure you can see where I'm headed with this... None of which is meant as a defence of Fuimaono - he deserves to be suspended. I just don't think you've thought this through.
Ron Fitzpatrick
Guest
Funniest thing I've ever seen. "Tim Gore. Expert" :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Adam
Roar Guru
I was earlier in the week of the opinion that the tackle wasn't too bad. But go and find the video on the NRL physio of the tackle and you can see how that is a very dangerous tackle. Once his right leg left the ground in a tripping motion (maybe not the right description, wrapping maybe??), he was always going to end up dropping his weight through his hip onto the back of Dunster's legs, it's a lot of force. Now I'm not thinking it was worth more than he has got. The outcome was what I would consider an outlier, most cannonballs, hip-drops etc result in no injury and aren't inherently as dangerous as a high tackles. So I think the current policing of these tackles is actually relatively good....
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Yeah the 2 or 3 on 1s are the cases of it that should be addressed, where prone players are wrestled. Not a player in a 1 on 1 tackle that they have tried to avoid and fight being caught awkwardly.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Tim's probably trawling through Tyrell's school records as I post this.