Kangaroos second-rower Angus Crichton is free to play for Sydney Roosters in the opening round against the Dolphins after being permitted to serve his World Cup suspension in the pre-season.
Kangaroos second-rower Angus Crichton is free to play for Sydney Roosters in the opening round against the Dolphins after being permitted to serve his World Cup suspension in the pre-season.
Crichton received a two-match ban for striking Toa Samoa hooker Chanel Harris-Tavita with his elbow in the World Cup final at Old Trafford but the suspension was halved on appeal.
He will avoid missing a premiership match by serving the one match ban in the opening round of the NRL Pre-season Challenge against the Storm in Geelong on February 12.
The 26-year-old could play the following weekend at Gosford against Manly and will be available for the historic NRL debut of the Dolphins, who are set to become the Telstra Premiership's 17th team next year.
Players suspended in the NRL are required to serve their bans in premiership fixtures, with Ryan Matterson (Eels), Francis Molo (Dragons), Mat Croker (Knights), Taane Milne (Rabbitohs) and Brian Kelly (Titans) set to miss the start of the season.
However, Crichton's ban falls under the jurisdiction of the International Rugby League, which permits pre-season matches to be included.
A clause in the NRL judiciary code allows for the disciplinary policy of the body which handed down the suspension to be applied and Crichton has been cleared to serve his ban during the new pre-season competition.
Meanwhile, Matterson and Kelly will miss the opening three rounds of the Telstra Premiership, while Milne, Molo and Croker each have two matches to serve at the start of the 2023 competition and Milne has one.
Replies
Look i find the whole nrl a joke anyway; no cap finalised now is a joke, as for this one i would have done the same as Chrichton has done. Matterson should have done the right thing in the first instance, so he has to take some blame here as does the club who maybe could have asked the nrl for some time following the GF loss.
When the Eels asked for a extension, they were given an extension of 2 extra hours. Never heard of such rubbish.
Thats good Fitzy that they did give him extra time but to me he was either badly advised / or it was his entire decision to take the weeks. I still cant believe he did it.
Me either.... I just don't get why the rush when that was the final game of the season? Matterson wasn't going to play in the the World Cup so why wasn't he afforded the opportunity to delay his decision by a few days or week?
NFI. It was a naive call for me and I get his thinking but he could / should and would have probably been advised too. He made a call and that's it for me, he was no peeved abt the game. I am interested in who comes in and steps up. A few there who can make the step up.
The answer to your question is explained in the article.
Except the dopes at NRL HQ allowed Waerea-Hargreaves to serve his suspension during the WC warm up matches.
The real question is , Why did Matterson let his mates, the club and supporters down by electing to sit out for 3 weeks.
Very selfish act for mine. 4k is like a 200$ fine for the common person on 50k. This is just sticking your finger up at the eels who'd signed him on a very big contract. Parramatta should be looking to offload him to the Dolphins, but I reckon even Bennett wouldn't touch him after this stupid act.
cannot agree more, and your right its similar to a $200 fine for the average joe. Add in his directorship and ownership at Meariki Company and his wages from such. Its similar to a meal at the pub for average joe, in the grand scheme of things.
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