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The NRL has threatened Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes with a two-match ban for shoving referee Chris Butler while trying to stop a try.
In a bizarre postscript to Melbourne’s thrilling 30-26 win over the Warriors on Saturday night, Hughes was on Sunday hit with a grade-two contrary conduct charge.
The charge relates to an incident in the second half, when referee Butler found himself between Hughes and Rocco Berry as the Warriors centre charged for the line.
Replays show Hughes nudging Butler out of the way, with the referee hitting the ground before the Storm halfback attempts a try-saving tackle.
The charge relates only to the physical contact, with Hughes not alleged to have said anything untoward. The incident prompted chuckles from onlookers and commentators at the time, but the NRL have deemed it no laughing matter.
The Kiwi international will miss next Sunday’s clash with Newcastle with an early guilty plea, and risks a second week out if he fights the charge and loses at the judiciary.
If found guilty, Hughes will be the first player to be banned for contact with a referee since a spate of suspensions during an NRL crackdown in 2016.
Hughes won support from pundits including Brad Fittler and Andrew Johns on Sunday. “He wouldn’t have even been watching,” Johns said of the Storm halfback on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“He is just watching (Berry). He’s not even looking at the referee. He is a bit hard done by there.
“We need to protect the referees, without a doubt. Especially at junior level … but for me that was an accident.”
Fittler questioned the positioning of Butler, and said Hughes had too little time to make a conscious decision in relation to the official.
Melbourne have been without Hughes’s usual halves partner Cameron Munster for the first two rounds through injury, but he is a chance to return against the Knights next week.
Butler was the second official to become entangled in play over the weekend.
Canterbury were denied a try on Friday night against Cronulla when referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski was deemed to have got in the way of the Sharks’ Braydon Trindall as he tried to stop Viliame Kikau close to the line.
There was contact between Trindall and Przeklasa-Adamski, but only in the process of the player attempting to make a tackle.
Hughes’s decision to nudge Butler to the side achieved little for the Storm – while he slowed down Berry close to the line, Marcelo Montoya scored on the next play. Hughes is the only player contemplating a ban out of Saturday’s matches.
Canberra duo Xavier Savage and Ethan Strange face fines after the Raiders’ win over Wests Tigers, but are free to face the Warriors on Friday night.
Tigers utility Aidan Sezer also faces a fine, for a high tackle on Raiders fullback Jordan Rapana, as does Newcastle No.6 Tyson Gamble for his shot on North Queensland’s Tom Dearden.
From earlier in the round, Cronulla forward Briton Nikora is facing a ban of only two weeks after he was charged for his controversial hit on Bulldogs opponent Viliame Kikau
Nikora should have been sent off by referee Ziggy Prezeklasa-Adamski for the dangerous tackle which after his shoulder thundered into Kikau’s head in the sixth minute of Cronulla’s 25-6 triumph at Shark Park.
Kikau was not looking at the defender after passing the ball wide but Nikora only got 10 in the sin bin for a tackle that has been a straight send-off in recent seasons.
If he enters an early guilty plea he will be out for two matches but risks a further week on the sidelines if he challenges the judiciary.
“I haven’t had too many looks at it but it didn’t look great,” said Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo in the post-match media conference.
“He (Nikora) is not that sort of player so I don’t think he would have meant it. But it wasn’t a great look.
“I thought there were a lot of other calls that went against us. Blake Taaffe gets tackled in the air and loses the ball – that’s a penalty every day of the week. I’m going to have to send them (videos) in this week and get some clarity on some of them because there’s just so many of them.
(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
“I felt like that last year, but we were hurting ourselves last year and we didn’t have that same level of effort.
“Now I have that level of effort from our guys, I want to get the fair calls and for us to get what we deserve.”
Nikora will miss upcoming clashes with the Wests Tigers and Canberra by taking the early guilty plea but risks also sitting out the following game against South Sydney by challenging the charge.
One of the best line-running second-rowers in the league, Nikora’s absence is a blow to a Sharks side that is already readjusting on the edges following Wade Graham’s retirement last year.
New recruit Billy Burns is a chance to come onto the Sharks’ right edge for a club debut, while Jack Williams is also an option as a bench forward with experience starting at second row.
Panthers star Jarome Luai is lucky not to be facing a ban after he was charged twice from Friday’s derby win over Parramatta.
He can escape with fines of $1800 for a high tackle which ended Parramatta winger Bailey Simonsson’s match early and a trip on Mitchell Moses.
Luai first went on report for hitting Simonsson high early in the game and he later became wrong-footed and tripped Mitch Moses as the Eels halfback attempted a kick later in the game, attracting the ire of the referee a second time.
But Luai will be free to face off against the Broncos at BlueBet Stadium next Thursday night.
Eels centre Morgan Harper ($1000-$1500 fro dangerous contact) was the only other player charged from the clash at Penrith.
Rabbitohs forward Davvy Moale was charged with a Grade 1 Dangerous Contact charge from Thursday night’s loss in Brisbane.
Moale faces a fine of $1800-$2500 for the incident involving Pat Carrigan in the 33rd minute.
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