If an NRL player is found guilty of the heinous act of biting an opponent, six matches should be the minimum time they serve on the sidelines.
Departing Canberra star Jack Wighton will think he’s been unlucky to be handed a three-game ban at Tuesday night’s judiciary hearing but he should have been whacked with double that amount.
And an extra one for his arrogance in churlishly asking “how many games of rugby league have you played” to NRL lawyer Patrick Knowles.
Imagine the outcry if he had asked Wighton “how many law degrees do you have”.
What Wighton clearly doesn’t understand is that Knowles was being paid (a lucrative amount, as the 30-year-old Raiders does for chasing a ball around a field) to represent the interests of the NRL, to protect the image of a multibillion-dollar industry.
Very few sports have no problem with players biting each other and they tend to lose sponsors rather quickly if they’re seen to be condoning such vile acts.
Tyson Gamble shows referee Ashley Klein his arm. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Wighton claimed he didn’t bite Newcastle’s Tyson Gamble but it means he won’t be trying his luck at the gambler’s paradise of Las Vegas next year when the team he’s joining, South Sydney, takes part in the NRL’s historic double header to open the 2024 season.
He came up snake eyes with his ill-conceived retort of “how many games of rugby league have you played” after Knowles suggested Gamble had not applied any more pressure than a standard tackle
The crux of Wighton’s defence was that the incident was an accident caused by Gamble applying pressure to his mouth with his forearm after tackling the Raiders centre.
Wighton was reprimanded by judiciary chair Geoffrey Bellew SC for his snide comment.
After an 80-minute hearing, the judiciary panel of Penrith great Tony Puletua, former referee Paul Simpkins and Bellew took 20 minutes to reach their decision on a guilty verdict and then handed down a three-game ban.
Jack Wighton is placed on report by referee Ashley Klein. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Wighton, who is joining the Rabbitohs on a four-year deal, claimed during the hearing that at no stage did he bite down and there was nothing he could do to avoid his mouth being jammed into Gamble’s arm.
Wighton’s counsel Nick Ghabar did not dispute contact had been made with Gamble’s forearm. But the five-eighth claimed Gamble had applied “extreme” pressure to the back of his head and his face in wrapping his arm around him in the tackle.
“His forearm actually fell into my mouth before I could even close it,” Wighton said. “I’ve got no alternative, nowhere to go. It was full body weight, full pressure (on my head). My mouth was jammed open, not at one stage did I clench, not one little bit.”
Wighton was carrying the ball in his left arm as he was tackled with Gamble clearly forcing his forearm towards his opponent’s mouth.
But Wighton claiming he had no alternative is rubbish. His right arm was free so he absolutely had the opportunity to palm Gamble away if he indeed could not breathe.
By the way, Gamble’s arm was in contact with Wighton’s mouth for all of four seconds so if he can’t hold his breath that long, Souths should be asking questions about what kind of athlete they’ve signed.
Knowles suggested that mere pressure alone would not have created such a clear indentation on Gamble’s forearm and there was an intent to bite.
Ghabar said no intent to bite could be proven, insisting the six camera angles of the incident did not show a tightening of Wighton’s facial muscles that would be consistent with a bite.
Gamble opted against testifying before the panel to keep his schedule clear ahead of Saturday’s semi-final against the Warriors.
Ghabar suggested Gamble not giving evidence and Klein opting not to send Wighton from the field both cast doubt over the legitimacy of the biting accusation.
But Bellew discouraged the panel from giving weight to those claims.
Wighton quit rep footy mid-season which means the 30-year-old is unable to apply for Australia’s end-of-season Tests to soak up his ban.
He had been referred directly to the judiciary on a dangerous contact charge arising from the 46th-minute incident in his last match for Canberra, their 30-28 elimination final loss in extra time at Newcastle.
After a lengthy on-field debate, referee Ashley Klein chose to place the Canberra star on report rather than sending him off.
In his report which was tendered as evidence, Klein informed the panel that the mark he saw on Gamble’s arm was consistent with a row of teeth and was surrounded by what appeared to be saliva.
Former Gold Coast forward Kevin Proctor was the most recent player to be suspended for biting – the second-rower was banned four matches three years ago after a complaint from his Kiwi teammate Shaun Johnson during his stint with the Sharks.
The Raiders had requested the hearing be pushed back to Wednesday but after discussions with the NRL, both parties agreed for Wighton to appear via videolink. Wighton entered a not-guilty plea and was supported by Raiders football manager Matt Ford and chief executive Don Furner.
Gamble was tightlipped about the incident after the game.
“I want to leave that on the field. That’s footy,” he said. “It’s done and dusted, we shook hands and (Wighton) said all the best for the rest of the finals series. We’ll put it to the side and move on.”
with AAP
Short Memory
Roar Rookie
Impossible to compress the carotid artery with pressure on the mouth. Ask your doctor :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
It worked for Terry Hill. That's why the NRL will never have a draft system like the NFL and NBA.
Brian Westlake
Roar Rookie
Why? He admitted guilt on the field. He'd have to stand down whilst it went through court ala debelin. He wouldn't be getting paid by souths (not their circus) and I will back that Ricky et al don't want a bar of it. It would be quite detrimental to his career
Brian Westlake
Roar Rookie
Ummm.... Was he found guilty? oh dear.
Brian Westlake
Roar Rookie
As he was chastised by Geoff Bellew... This bloke wouldn't give a rats a%$e on a chastising. Money is the only thing that would make him sit up and take notice. Take a few thousand extra out of his pay and watch him behave
criag
Roar Rookie
A player testifying is not normally important. But in a case where a player makes an accusation and doesn't follow through, it doesn't help the panel get it right. In all honesty, no-one really knows if he bit him or not, but there is doubt. He was given the benefit of the doubt on the field, but later wasn't.
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
So you are admitting there is some truth to the book of feuds. Great! Finally we are making progress. :laughing:
mushi
Roar Guru
Yet you celebrate a premiership won with a domestic violence proponent and your major sponsor, oh and owner, a probable money launderer.
KenW
Roar Rookie
I'm not sure that an analysis of Gamble's motivations is particularly useful. Complaining in the moment is probably the most truthful version we get from of players. What was he supposed to do to be genuine after the ref calls play back on? Have a tantrum and refuse to accept the decision. Once the final whistle has blown there's massive pressure to be a good bloke and leave it on the field. As I said above, if we relied on players testifying on Tuesday nights about bad deeds on the field no-one would ever be suspended.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Imagine Iron Mike being bitten in a push and shove. Think he'd leave more than a slight mark on the perpetrator.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Adam, you don't have to be a cook to criticise the cooking.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Come on HFC, Jack was being chocked all the way, I disagree as I haven’t seen that sort of a forearm in someone’s gob “Hundreds of tackles exactly like that happen every single game” that’s a bit of an exaggeration, if that happened then there would be chunks missing out of players arms like we cauliflower ears in the RARA game :laughing: that sort of a tackle happens very rarely (I can’t remember the last one I’ve seen) as it was a fair dinkum choke and smother tackle, show me another tackle like that in that game? The bottom line here is this that Gamble did that intentionally and went in hard and didn’t care if he committed a choking tackle or an offence, he was lucky and fooled everyone and really turned the game around, as Gamble surely knew that he had his forearm in Jack gob and he was pushing the envelope, how can you not feel that your forearm is not in someone’s mouth.
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
1. So why didn't Gordon Tallis testify in the Tribunal where that evidence could have been heard? Not sure Foxsports is a tribunal either. 2. Uh huh. Your point being? Canberra didn't challenge it. 3. There was most definitely a need for a dentist. The prosecution insist it was a bite, but the defence claimed it was from the mouthguard, the expert witness would have settled it. Canberra's fault for not bringing one in. Collingwood brought in a biomechanist to free Braydon Maynard. That's the effort needed. 4. Well then, Wighton's defence team surely would have mounted that argument. But they didn't... 5. Cute, but the NRL Tribunal doesn't have the power to issue subpoenas. But a nice try applying what you obviously learning on an episode of Law and Order. 6. Thanks Lionel Hutz.
Horses for Courses
Roar Rookie
Hundreds of tackles exactly like that happen every single game, you telling me we should be penalising all of them? How many times a game would a player have body parts near or around another's mouth, are they all free game to bite now? Also, intentional choking, are you serious? I know Wighton is a bit of a mouth breather but his nose is right there.
The Barry
Roar Guru
You guys get it don’t you? Just jokes, just jokes… haha… get it? Get it?
Abhi Beckert
Roar Rookie
Gamble immediately lost interest the moment he realised Whiton wasn’t going to be sent off giving the Knights an advantage in a must win game of footy. That counts against him for me – it has the smell of a player milking a penalty. As for the two “contradictory statements” – if you jam your arm into someone’s mouth, that is not a bite. Also what was his arm doing there anyway? You’re not supposed to make contact above the shoulders and if you do so accidentally you’re meant to pull out of it immediately – not wait for the ref to call the tackle complete and then stop the game insisting they fouled you. Yes – Wighton’s teeth touched Gamble’s arm. Nobody is debating that. It’s clear as day visible in the replays. That doesn’t make it a bite. In my opinion a bite means two rows of teeth, and the ref testified that there was only one row.
Muzz Manyana
Roar Rookie
The Bunnies love wasting money. Mitchell spends a fair chunk of the season either suspended or injured. He also holds the record for most sin bins in the NRL. Now their latest big name signing will start the season watching from the sidelines. I still can't believe they let Reynolds go who is likely to steer the Broncos to a premiership. Redfern is a circus. :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:
Glory Bound
Roar Rookie
Stop trying to muzzle the truth, Muzz. Have I upset your truth? :laughing:
Muzz Manyana
Roar Rookie
Stop making things up!
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha… it’s all just been a joke fellas… haha You guys are laughing with me not at me, right fellas? Fellas? Right guys? Haha…