Newcastle forward Mitch Barnett has been suspended for six games at the NRL judiciary for raising his forearm and collecting Penrith forward Chris Smith in an off-the-ball hit.
Barnett was sent off in the Knights’ 38-20 loss to the Panthers in Bathurst on Saturday and was referred straight to the judiciary on a dangerous contact charge. He pleaded guilty.
After the NRL’s legal team of Lachlan Gyles argued for an eight-game ban and Barnett’s lawyer Nick Ghabar pleaded for a four-game suspension, the panel of chair Geoff Bellew, Bob Lindner and Tony Puletua met in the middle and gave the forward six weeks off.
The panel deliberated for 32 minutes before handing the 27-year-old his suspension, saying his behaviour was reckless but not intentional.
“I am just hoping Chris is alright, we’ve exchanged text messages,” Barnett said. “I’m disappointed and I’ll go away and do my time. The lesson learnt is that I can’t be careless in terms of player safety.”
Barnett was flanked by Knights football manager Danny Buderus as he arrived at League Central on Tuesday for the two-hour hearing. He said he only saw Smith late and put out a “bumper” to protect himself.
The back-rower said he only noticed Smith in his peripheral vision as he was focused on stopping the Panthers spreading the ball to the flank to score a try.
“I have a duty of care to opposition players and I understand that,” Barnett said during the hearing. “It was careless but I never intended to lift my arm that high.”
Barnett’s team claimed the forward’s first point of contact was with Smith’s chest. They also produced a reference from John Quayle, supporting Barnett’s character which played a part in the panel’s decision making.
The fact the Panthers back-rower only sustained a concussion and no break to his jaw, they said, led them to believe the Knights player should receive a four-game ban at most. Gyles rubbished Barnett’s claims and had argued for a stronger sentence but that fell on deaf ears.
“This idea that you weren’t able to see him just before contact is simply not true,” said Gyles, who described Barnett’s elbow as a “blunt instrument”.
“You could have got past him easily with just using your hands, couldn’t you? You’re a very coordinated, fit and experienced rugby league defender, can I suggest to you it’s very likely to have been an intentional act.”
Smith has not been named in Penrith’s round-four game against South Sydney, while Barnett will not be able to play for the Knights until round 10 when they face Canterbury.
Trent Robinson. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)
Robbo ruled out with COVID
Sydney Roosters will head to Townsville this weekend without coach Trent Robinson who has tested positive to COVID-19.
Assistant coach Jason Ryles is likely to take the reins although the club has not announced the structure for the Round 4 shoot-out with the Cowboys.
Robinson is self-isolating and plans to be back on deck next week.
“I’m feeling fine and am very comfortable with the plans we have in place, and I’ll be back at the club next week,” Robinson said.
Matt King and Brett Morris are Robinson’s other assistants but Ryles has more experience after serving a lengthy apprenticeship at Melbourne under Craig Bellamy.
World Cup chiefs to meet NRL clubs over releasing players
The chief executive of Rugby League World Cup, Jon Dutton, will spend a fortnight in Australia during the international window in June to speak to allay any lingering concerns about the tournament among NRL clubs.
The reluctance of NRL clubs to release players when COVID-19 rates were running high forced the 16-nation competition’s postponement from 2021 to late this year.
“It’s just really important to remember that the players are not centrally contracted – this isn’t rugby union or cricket – so I’m going to meet every NRL chief exec,” Dutton said on Monday.
“I’ll be meeting all the nations that are out there and I’m going to meet the NRL and get out there and talk about our journey, build relationships and make sure everyone’s prepared.
“A lot of people associated with the likes of Italy, Lebanon and Greece are based in New South Wales so it’s important from that perspective.”
Dutton, speaking in Manchester to mark 200 days to the opening game, said officials are better placed to organise a successful World Cup than they at this time last year.
Sales have topped 50 per cent for both the opening game between England and Samoa at Newcastle United’s St James’ Park on October 15 and the finals double header at Old Trafford on November 19 and Dutton is convinced they will be among a host of sell-outs.
“We are definitely in a better position than this time last year,” he said. “I remember 200 days before the scheduled start of the World Cup, we were surrounded by uncertainty. It feels different. We’ve got more resource, we’ve had more time.”
Leeds boss heads to Australia for new coach
Leeds have widened their search for a new coach to Australia as they seek to revive their fortunes.
Rhinos are one of the Super League’s most successful clubs with 11 titles, the last in 2017, 13 Challenge Cup and three World Club Challenge successes. But they are third from bottom of the table with just one win after six rounds.
Chief executive Gary Hetherington said he will fly to Australia to step up his search for a replacement for Richard Agar.
Agar’s assistant Jamie Jones-Buchanan was placed in temporary charge, starting with last Saturday’s 40-16 defeat by Castleford in the Challenge Cup.
Hetherington outlined his plans in an open letter to supporters, saying: “I believe this appointment is as important as my decision to bring Tony Smith in back in 2003. In contrast, back then we were challenging for honours on all fronts but needed to go to the next level with a new appointment.
“To that end, we have begun an exhaustive search both at home and abroad and this weekend I will travel to Australia to meet a number of potential candidates to speak to them in person and further advance our search for a new head coach.”
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Rob
Guest
I think you might be confused about differences between touch and league. The physical contest in league requires a certain mentality. An aggressive, fearless physical approach is essential to compete. Sometimes in the moment people do things that on reflection cross the line in a physicality sense. Sometimes errors of judgment are made. Barnett’s action was certainly not personal.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Origin was no holds barred back then. Can't remember if the Grasshopper was the referee :laughing:
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
No argument andrew. But the one that shocked me was the incident in the 3rd SOO game in 1991 when Meninga's high tackle on Michael O'Connor very early in the game left him with a broken nose and two black eyes. O'Connor appeared on TV the next day and looked absolutely terrible. There was no citing.
Monorchid
Roar Rookie
I have a harsh view of the Barnett incident, and many similar incidents going back equally many years. I'm more than aware that my strong view will attract criticism. For a start, it always amazes me how remorseful offending players can be after the incident, and talk about lessons learnt. And how the two players have been texting each other which infers that the attacked player has forgiven the attacker and that they're great mates. In my view, one is concentrating on playing football, and the other has cowardly intentions in mind that would result in them being introduced to a policeman if the incident occurred away from the playing field. Along with other sports, RL has been trying to deal with the concussion issue. The NRL is basically agreeing that incidents like this have a place in the game because the offender just has to miss out on a relatively few games. There's no serious deterrent to not offend again. There's no consideration for the attacked player. And no matter what policies the NRL brings to the CTE issue, the weak point in any policy in cases like this is the offending player. The only solution is to permanently remove the player from the game on a no tolerance basis. No hearings, no fancy lawyers' submissions, no lame excuses, no second chances. Get a red card for an offence like this, and the player is banned for life. There's a deterrent right there. Not many players have records of offences like this one, so we're only looking at a few players. And what would most players think of such a policy? Maybe we should ask players like Manu.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Beastie boy, you are truly delusional if you believe it was at most two inches. Yes, saying Manu dropped a full metre might have been a bit of a stretch and more in service of an argument, but the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Let's call it half a metre (20 inches) and be done with it then. Besides, even Rob agrees that; "Mitchell was looking at the off load and Marnu dropped as he was passing."
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
"Mitchell was looking straight at his target." then this "Mitchell was looking at the off load and Marnu dropped as he was passing. It was unfortunate but also reckless" That would be enough to establish reasonable doubt in any jury's mind. Then... I defended Mitchell to a point that it wasn’t his intent to hit Marnu in the head... Q.E.D. the Barnett and Mitchell tackles were not the same thing. Barnett's worse because of the intent involved and because it was totally avoidable and absolutely unnecessary. This in no way absolves Mitchell of responsibility for his "reckless, careless, forceful illegal contact to the head" and he was punished accordingly. One can only wonder that IF Joey Manu emerged from the tackle unscathed, then would Latrell have been suspended and if he was, would it have been only for a week or two? "He’s got a habit of erring on the high side, and it needs to be rectified." I agree. While Latrell remains adamant that he won't adjust his aggressive style that's all well and good, but that can be done with intelligence, controlled aggression, allowing for a margin of error.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
I woke this morning with a single Twitter notification on my phone that said "BREAKING: Barnett cops 22 week ban" I thought, surely not, and when you scrolled through the comments it was a mix of people believing the tweet, and recognizing it was a parody account. But the sheer fact that people thought it was possible that the Judiciary could have given a 22 week ban (and for a fleeting moment, i thought, 'surely not'), says all you need to know about the level of confidence in the systems of the NRL.
Beastie
Roar Rookie
And now the CEO of the Players Association. I wonder if he had the players best interests at heart with that attempt? :silly:
Beastie
Roar Rookie
"dropped a full metre"? He was probably an inch or two lower than he would have been when Latrell looked at launching at him! If he was at that height, we would be talking about Latrell breaking his jaw, now his eye socket. As a famous Queenslander once said... “Turn it up.. Give yourself an uppercut.”
andrew
Roar Rookie
Also a Newcastle player. Still, Les Boyd’s elbow on Brohman would be one of the worst.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Rugby is also a cure for insomnia Tony.
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Eric is a ‘sook ah’ boy Tony. Why he feels their world cup is somehow threatened by ours is beyond my ken.
Tony
Roar Guru
Couple of dopes
Tony
Roar Guru
English orphan puppies
Tony
Roar Guru
They say that if you keep watching rugby then you will go blind
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Was Les Boyd a Queenslander? What about Paul Gallen?
Rob
Guest
Your case is one of bias. I defended Mitchell to a point that it wasn’t his intent to hit Marnu in the head. Mitchell was looking at the off load and Marnu dropped as he was passing. It was unfortunate but also reckless, careless, forceful illegal contact to the head. The injury Marnu suffered as result required Mitchell’s 5 weeks suspension. Barnett is no different it was reckless, forceful illegal contact. Fortunately I believe he didn’t badly hurt Smith. I’m prepared to give Barnett the benefit of doubt as Smith also contributed by decelerating and stopping in the line Barnett was running. Barnett didn’t stand over Smith berating him like Mitchell did or remonstrate with the official. From everything Barnett has done after the incident by admitting he made an error of judgment raising his arm to apologising to Smith and checking he is okay I’m capable of not crucifying him. I believe being sent off and 4 weeks is reasonable and fair. He’s no more guilty than Mitchell was IMO. NAS is extremely luck because I would have agreed with anything from 2-4 weeks. S’ua deserves 2-4 also. He’s got a habit of erring on the high side and it needs to be rectified.
JVGO
Guest
He would probably get away with it at the Oscars. Maybe even get an award.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
And Souths missed out on a certain premiership. I'd call that even, Rob. :silly: Seriously, Rob. What is it your beloved QLDer Fatty Vautin says; "Turn it up.. Give yourself an uppercut." If you think that there is any similarity to Latrell Mitchell's tackle and Mitch Barnett's then you are kidding yourself mate. I know this is probably a case of fishing for a bite but seriously Rob? Barnett had all the time in the world to do something else, anything else, but with malice of forethought he chose the dog shot. No doubt he thought; "If Terry Lamb can do that to win a premiership in 1988, what's the harm?" Perhaps if Barnett had gone with the "Little Lamb" defence he might have avoided a suspension and had a premiership ring thrown in to boot. Latrell is not looking at the point of contact and not a second or more before that. Because by then there was the collision with a falling Joey Manu and only a split second to calculate the correct angle to hit Manu in the face when he had dropped a full metre. Does anyone believe that Latrell Mitchell understood the physics of that and was able to make a split second adjustment to hit a falling player intentionally? Latrell Mitchell couldn't balance a checkbook if he waa given a week to do so. How could he make a split second physics calculation like that? Your homour, I rest my case!
Rob
Guest
Who is Gyles? Has he played rugby league? It’s a reflex action to raise your arms before running into something or when someone is about to bump into you. Every been swooped by a magpie Mr Gyles? 4 weeks after already being sent off is reasonable. 8 would be harsh in this case. Can we penalise JWH and Goose McGuire for raising the elbow into contact with an opponent head?