Jack Wighton’s debut for South Sydney next year could be delayed after he was accused of biting in Sunday’s dramatic extra-time elimination final at Newcastle which was not decided until the 89th minute when the Raiders were pinged for being offside while trying to deny a field goal.
Newcastle five-eighth Tyson Gamble was fuming after an incident in the 46th minute when he reeled away after tackling Wighton, protesting to referee Ashley Klein that the Canberra veteran had bitten his forearm.
Klein ultimately could not say that Wighton deliberately bit Gamble despite a noticeable mark on his arm after the bunker reviewed the available footage of the incident.
It fired up the Knights, who had been lacklustre up until that point, charging back from a 16-6 deficit with captain Kalyn Ponga the catalyst for four unanswered tries in the next 15 minutes before the Raiders rallied late to level the scores at 28-28 to force extra time.
Newcastle will live to fight another day next weekend on the back of the 30-28 triumph, their 10th in a row, to take on the Warriors in a semi-final showdown in Auckland.
Was Wighton biting?
Unless there is video proof, biting allegations are always hard to prove and referee Ashley Klein erred on the side of caution after Gamble claimed Wighton bit him by only placing him on report.
The Knights five-eighth jammed his forearm towards the face of Wighton after he had tackled him to the ground and the Raider did not have much room to move.
However, Gamble’s arm had a clear mark on it from where Wighton’s mouth had left a mark.
“That’s slobber – that is not sweat. There’s a bite there, he bit me,” Gamble said to Klein.
Tyson Gamble shows referee Ashley Klein his arm. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Wighton countered with: “He lays on the back of my head, pushing down. What am I meant to do? I can’t move my mouth, he’s got to move his arm,” as the sell-out crowd chanted for the Raiders star to be sent off.
After allowing the bunker an extended chance to view the vision, Klein said they were not able to prove it was a bite and “couldn’t go on the word of Tyson”.
“They’ve reviewed it and can’t definitely say,” he told Ponga after the skipper asked for an explanation.
On Fox League, former premiership-winning five-eighth Braith Anasta was bemused Wighton was not dispatched by the ref.
“There seemed to be bite marks on the arm. Gamble straight away reports it to the referee. Jack Wighton has his mouth open and his arm in it. I don’t know how he didn’t get sent off the field,” he said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
Ponga, in the post-match media conference, said Klein conveyed that he couldn’t be certain about the incident.
Jack Wighton is placed on report by referee Ashley Klein. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
“He just said he couldn’t see anything, play on,” he said. “The crowd got behind us after that, the crowd got us home, not that incident.”
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said they were just allegations against Wighton, who he thought was “brilliant” during the game.
“I just hope that great game of football is not overshadowed in the media by that (incident). It was a quality game of football that only us in our camp knew we were going to play.”
Raiders have a red-hot go before Knights escape
Hohepa Puru’s second game at NRL level only lasted a couple of minutes when the rookie Raiders forward was subbed off after a head knock and the match went to script early when Ponga made his first incision.
He attracted two defenders, which left room for Bradman Best to put Greg Marzhew over in the corner.
Canberra went close to equalising when Ata Mariota was held up over the line by a matter of millimetres before they registered their first points out of nothing in the 19th minute when Newcastle veteran Dane Gagai knocked on and and James Schiller scooted over in the corner from close range.
It looked like Gagai had put Newcastle back in front in the 30th minute on the back of a Marzhew intercept but his hands let him down again as he bounced the putdown in the corner as Hudson Young launched a last-gasp tackle.
The Green Machine made them pay in the next minute when Trey Mooney barged over from a short drop-out and then Wighton got on the outside of Gagai to put Schiller over for his second to make it 16-6 right on half-time.
Canberra again looked the stronger side in the early exchanges after the restart before the biting flashpoint fired up the home side.
Jackson Hastings was replaced at the break after aggravating his ankle injury in his comeback game and makeshift playmaker Kurt Mann backed up a Lachlan Fitzgibbon offload to send Ponga streaking away.
Newcastle hit the front when Ponga broke free down the right edge to put Dominic Young over and then booted the sideline conversion.
Another right-side raid on the Raiders had Ponga releasing Young with Gagai backing up to touch down.
Young’s second try in the 62nd minute, a runaway effort after Gamble collected the crumbs from a Canberra bomb, made it 28-16 but Raiders five-eighth Matt Frawley kept the underdogs in the contest when he scored a short time later to cut the deficit to six heading into the closing stages.
And with less than three minutes on the clock, Canberra captain Elliott Whitehead produced a superb offload for bench hooker Tom Starling to level the scores.
Adam Elliott hit Raiders prop Joseph Tapine high in the final minute of regulation time to piggyback the Raiders into field goal range but Jamal Fogarty was charged down by Tyson Frizell and Fogarty sprayed his attempt to send the match into extra time.
Fogarty had another chance at the end of the first five-minute extra time period from a scrum win but Gamble got his forearm back in the spotlight by denying the one-pointer.
And he botched a kick out on the full late in the second period of extra time which ultimately gave Newcastle the field position for the match-winner.
O’Brien not totally happy despite win
Knights coach Adam O’Brien said they had done “a helluva job to turn that scoreline around” and while he wasn’t happy with his team’s execution, he wasn’t going to lambast them.
“There was a couple of moments that we’d like to have back, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” he said. “There was a lot of character in that win. I don’t want to get bogged down, there’s no point me standing in there roasting people about completions – that ain’t gonna help us next week.
“We will dump parts of it but we will hang onto the effort and the character that we showed.”
Joseph Tapine is tackled. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
He said it was too early to say whether Hastings would be able to suit up against the Warriors but the early signs are that he will need more time out after aggravating his ankle injury in his comeback match with Adam Clune likely to come back in as starting halfback.
Stuart said the tight result wasn’t what anyone expected after adoping a siege mentality as underdogs in the lead-up to the game.
“That’s the Raiders DNA, what you’ve seen tonight,” he said. “That just showed so many people that’s why we were in the top eight. I can’t be any prouder. I thought we were very, very brave.”
wilbas
Roar Rookie
ha..NO...the same with the clowns in the bunker...flicking through rule book as the make decisions...we see the rule where attack loses ball momentarily and it contacts opponet and its a knock on...but I have seen three times cases where the attacker lost the ball backwards and it contacts the opponent and then comes back into arms of attacker and they ruled that lost ball...It should be play on with a restart of tackle count...and can some one lose these bunker tackle count restarts...I use to know what tackle it was by instinct...now I don't know if it is 5th or 17th
Rellum
Roar Guru
Yes, it's Gamble's fault he got bit, the guy should get 6 weeks for forcing Wighton to bite him. The nervehow could he!! :shocked: :shocked: We really need an eye roll emoy
steveng
Roar Rookie
Thats what I thought GB, as Gambles action was excessive and dangerous, twisting Jack neck backwards while his arm is dead set blocking his mouth and suffocating him and his legs are pinned by another Knights player, imo everyone reacts differently, but if you can't breathe and pressure is applied to your neck and mouth and you can't breathe what would you do as a defensive measure, I know what I would do and that is bite and try to get out of that situation, as Jack couldn't move and he was in pain, you could see all that happening. But the boofs at the judiciary will have a completely different take on all this as we've already seen from the famous BUNKER in 2023.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Spot on GB, especially with JWH who was put on report 3 times in a game. Gamble had no regard for Jacks head or mouth, he was going all out to twist Jack backwards while his legs were pinned down, what was Jack supposed to do with Gambles ram in his gob? But then again the judiciary will give Jack at least 2 weeks and could be longer, lets see what them clown do???
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Given the latitude given to JWH throughout his entire career I wouldn't be so outspoken in your position. If the MRC and judiciary were consistent and there weren't any extenuating circumstances I would agree. But then if there was consistency in penalties irrespective of the clubs involved Cleary, Yeo and Martin would have been suspended for the 2021 GF and the beginning of the Panthers potential Threepeat run.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
How Klein gets promoted ahead of Gerard Sutton I'll never understand. It's almost as if the appointments were scripted.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
How long would Jack Wighton get if he was headed to the Roosters next season?
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Wrist, forearm... ONE is attached to the other. It was in that region. No need to get out a tape measure. Bottom line Jack Wighton's head wad attacked and he had some part of Gamble's anatomy forced into his mouth while his next was being twisted. Penalty to the Raiders. Play first infringement. Or do you need a diagram to explain it?
Richard POWELL
Roar Rookie
Fair dinkum! “FOREARM in his mouth?” So his “FOREARM” is adjacent to his wrist, is it? A forearm is at least 30 cm long. A mouth is only 6 or 7 cm. The fantasies some people come up with to try to make their point. Time for you to book into the funny farm.
SPM
Roar Rookie
When they fire on all cylinders the critics melt away. the problem out of this season was SOO hit, Trell got injured at Blues training, Cookie lost confidence and the rest of the squad looked lethargic for the remainder of the season. South’s have several areas of concern for me as a team; focus, discipline and effort don’t require skill or talent and don’t cost anything JD has the roster he has it’s his job to get them firing on all cylinders all year focusing on what you don’t have distracts from seeing what you do. No doubt Reno was always going to be a massive loss to the team structure and who ever came in was going to be under pressure any player who has replaced a champion like Reno is going to be constantly compared to and rated against them. I mean with out googling it who replaced Sterlo, Langer and Stewart. In my view the broncos haven’t had a particularly good HB since Langer retired and Reno arrived they did have some great players in ather positions to cover that shortfall. Just my view
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Knights are buying a few players including 2 more English players: Kai Pearce-Paul and Will Pryce. Supposed to be good players. Cogger & Jed Cartwright are going there. I heard that Jenkins from Penrith will possibly go there ( disappointed about that ) . They are letting a few players go, so may be more than that? Riley Jones is a star on the rise playing hooker. Newcastle should let Brailey go as his contract is too big & too many injuries. Keep Jones off the bench to start Crossland.
The Barry
Roar Guru
I didn’t see anything particularly forceful about what Gamble did. Certainly nothing resembling ju jitsu as has been described or anything close to warranting disciplinary action… Long story short - and we agree on this - you can’t just bite someone because you don’t like the tackle
The Barry
Roar Guru
…and the Broncos now as well No team deserves their success, it’s all down to conspiracies Tr.oll gotta tr.oll
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Was Gamble's forearm already in Wighton's mouth? Was Gamble applying pressure to Wighton's neck? Penalty!!
The Barry
Roar Guru
Five minutes back and you’re already making a nuisance of yourself I never once defended James Graham, I accepted the judiciary’s decision and never claimed he was hard done by. He deserved every minute of his 12 weeks. That’s the truth, but you wouldn’t know because you weren’t on here Wighton hasn’t even appeared in red and green yet and you’re blindly defending the inexcusable…and projecting your lack of integrity onto me :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
johnno 2
Roar Rookie
Wighton will bring some new BITE into the Bunnies next year , a few head high shots and some crucial dropped ball. Me thinks this import will surely improve the South's culture -- NOT . Dia straits if the Admin don't do some work on discipline. Doesn't look healthy for the fan base
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Look at it again. Contact was shifted by Gamble from the throat to Wighton's mouth. Gamble initiated that contact and wedged his forearm into Wighton's mouth. The referee should have blown the whistle for a penalty long before there was an incident. Where was the concern for player welfare?
Nathan Absalom
Roar Guru
Call me woke but I think the bar for unnecessary pressure to the head and neck should be a little bit lower than the arm being so tight around the neck a player is unable to move for several seconds....
Panthers
Roar Rookie
You asked if I watched the biting incident. There was clear footage of Wighton opening his mouth & biting down on Gamble’s arm. Then clear footage of the 2 lines of teeth marks on Gamble’s arm . The longer they filmed his arm the darker the 2 lines of teeth marks became. One players word against another? If it looks like a duck & quacks like a duck . It’s a Duck! Get your glasses fixed.
King of Kings
Roar Rookie
Reality - If you're in a head lock with a forearm across your mouth and pressure on the back of your head and neck your mouth if open is likely to close. No intent, forced by the defender. Should get off, sorry souths but as he's wearing green it's unlikely.