The Roosters are set to be without back-rower Nat Butcher for their Anzac Day meeting with St George Illawarra after he was offered a one-match suspension for a hip-drop tackle on Cronulla’s Briton Nikora.
Butcher risks missing two games by challenging the charge at the judiciary.
Teammate Brandon Smith could also be suspended if he challenges a grade-one careless high tackle charge but is likely to cop a $3000 fine with an early guilty plea instead of risking a two-game ban if found guilty at the judiciary.
Melbourne’s Tui Kamikamica and Manly winger Raymond Tuaimalo Vaega are also staring down the barrel of suspensions after incidents in the other Friday night match.
Kamikamica is looking at a two-game ban for dangerous contact, Justin Olam has been fined $1800 for the same offence and Trent Loiero has been pinged $1000 fine for a careless high tackle.
Nat Butcher. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Tuaimalo Vaega’s shoulder charge on Cameron Munster was rated a grade-two offence which means he will be banned 2-3 games unless he convinces the judiciary otherwise.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson was bemused by the Butcher incident.
“There’s no injury whatsoever but the cause of what happened in that moment, Butch gets 10,” Robinson said. “If you did every one of those we would be having 10-a-side.
“I understand the ones where the attacker is injured but there was no injury. He (Nikora) played for 70 minutes and came off that left foot and scored a try, so I think he was okay.”
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And he added Smith’s high shot on Cameron McInnes should not be worth a ban.
“I don’t really have an issue with what’s happening (in the game), but I don’t feel like that was loose or careless in any way,” Robinson said. “It was just guys spinning out of a tackle and a guy going in to make a tackle. We don’t want head high contact in our game.”
Olam’s fine was as a result of a late shot on Daly Cherry-Evans but the Manly captain admitted he had some level of sympathy for defenders trying to pressure halves like him.
“The game is protecting halfbacks and ball-players in general,” Cherry-Evans said. “I do feel a little sympathetic to people who try and do what they are asked, which is put pressure on ball players.
“But that’s our game. You just have to make sure you get it right, otherwise there are repercussions.”
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy had less sympathy for his players, frustrated by poor behaviour leaving his team down to 12 men twice in the second half.
“I don’t know what planet they are on,” Bellamy said. “You just can’t do that these days. You just can’t hit ball-players late with any force at all. We played half the second half with 12 men, that is hard work. And then, when they had 12 men in the second half, we couldn’t get out of our own 20.”
Storm captain Christian Welch also hit out at the behaviour of his team, labelling it as “stupid s**t”.
Dolphins veteran Kenny Bromwich is facing a two-week ban after he was charged with a Grade 2 Dangerous Contact offence on Rabbitohs winger Taane Milne in Thursday night’s loss at Suncorp Stadium.
The veteran was sin-binned for the 60th-minute incident and can escape with a one-match suspension with an early guilty plea but faces two matches out if he unsuccessfully challenges the charge at the judiciary.
He is set to miss next week’s derby with Gold Coast but the Dolphins will be bolstered by the inclusion of fellow second-rower Felise Kaufusi, who returns from his own suspension.
Rabbitohs duo Cameron Murray and Davvy Moale have copped fines for incidents during their comeback win.
Murray was pinged for a careless high tackle on Jeremy Marshall-King while Moale was charged with tripping and both face a $1000-$1500 depending on whether they contest the charge.
The Bunnies scored three tries while Bromwich was in the bin to run away with the 36-14 result in front of 23,280 fans.
“When he gets himself in the game like he does he is the best five-eighth in the game,” Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou said of Walker.
“He is a pleasure to coach when he is in that kind of mood.”
Dolphins forward Ray Stone has not been charged by the match review committee for his tackle on Keoan Koloamatangi, which put dangerous pressure on the Rabbitoh’s ankle and left him hobbling from the field in the second half.
The tackle was not as grievous as other recent instances of the hip-drop tackle, an illegal move where a player swings around and places his body weight on the lower leg of their rival.
Stone’s shot, which did not result in an on-field penalty, comes as the NRL ponders how to rid the game of the move which has the potential to cause serious leg injuries.
Dale Finucane, Marata Niukore and Jayden Okunbor have all faced bans for hip-drop tackles this season but last week Canterbury rookie Jacob Preston escaped suspension for his, despite being sin-binned.
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