Thought i would start a thread for all Judiciary rulings.
Thought i would start a thread for all Judiciary rulings.
#itaintweaktospeak
Statement on Jordan McLean judiciary referral
NRL
5:15pm Tue 25th March, 2014
The NRL said today it would defer a hearing into the incident which resulted in an injury to Knights forward Alex McKinnon out of respect to the player and his family.
NRL Head of Football, Mr Todd Greenberg, said the focus should be solely on Alex’s treatment and welfare at this time.
The NRL Match Review Committee today decided to refer a dangerous throw charge against Melbourne Storm player Jordan McLean to the NRL Judiciary because of the serious injury arising from the tackle.
Mr Greenberg said no date has been set for the hearing.
“Our immediate priority is to throw our support behind Alex and his family and to hope for a full recovery,” Mr Greenberg said.
“A date will be determined for Jordan’s hearing after we consult with the Melbourne and Newcastle clubs.
“Jordan will be stood down from this week’s match in Perth and until the matter is heard in line with the NRL’s rules. However, the Storm have the right under the rules to seek leave from the NRL Judiciary Chairman for Jordan to play.
“It is undoubtedly a distressing time for Jordan as well but the NRL has to apply the rules and determine whether a breach has occurred.
“The Match Review Committee believes it is in the best interests of all for the hearing to be held in the Judiciary forum where all the information can be presented openly and transparently.
“But, out of respect for Alex and his family, that hearing should not be held at this time.”
#itaintweaktospeak
McLean, Burgess to play Round 4
By Matt Encarnacion & Chris Kennedy
NRL.com
6:30pm Wed 26th March, 2014
Melbourne forward Jordan McLean will be permitted to play against the Bulldogs in Perth on Saturday after being granted leave by the NRL Judiciary Chairman.
He will have his charge heard next Wednesday, April 2.
Mr Paul Conlon SC said that, under its rules, the NRL had no option but to stand down Jordan until his dangerous throw charge was heard.
But he said any player stood down would normally have his case heard before his next game.
In this case, the NRL and Melbourne Storm had agreed to defer the hearing out of respect for Newcastle forward Alex McKinnon, who was injured in the tackle.
“In my view, both the NRL and the Melbourne club should be commended for this sensible and sensitive approach to the tragic situation with which they have been confronted,” Mr Conlon said.
Mr Conlon found that “exceptional circumstances” existed in this case because the hearing had been deferred and he ruled that Jordan is entitled to play this weekend.
His charge will be heard by the NRL Judiciary on Wednesday, April 2.
Meanwhile, Souths prop George Burgess is free to play against the Raiders on Sunday after successfully having his high tackle charge downgraded on Wednesday night.
Burgess was cited for a Grade 2 careless high tackle on Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco in the Rabbitohs' loss last Friday night.
But in the first judiciary case of the season, a panel of Royce Ayliffe, Michael Vella, and Paul Whatuira decided to downgrade the charge to grade 1, leaving the English international free to play on Sunday.
In other judiciary news, Manly prop Jason King has taken the early guilty plea and will miss a week. King was cited for a Grade 1 shoulder charge on Eels forward Peni Terepo.
All the other players cited from the weekend have taken the early plea and will be free to play. They include:
James Gavet, Wests Tigers, Grade 1 detrimental conduct.
Ben Te'o, Rabbitohs, Grade 1 careless high tackle.
Bryson Goodwin, Rabbitohs, Grade 1 careless high tackle.
Kane Evans, Roosters, Grade 1 careless high tackle.
Adam Docker, Panthers, Grade 1 dangerous throw.
#itaintweaktospeak
Jordan McLean ruling
NRL
10:40am Thu 27th March, 2014
The NRL Judiciary Chairman has ruled that Melbourne Storm forward Jordan McLean will be permitted to play this week.
Mr Paul Conlon SC said that, under its rules, the NRL had no option but to stand down Jordan until his dangerous throw charge was heard.
But he said any player stood down would normally have his case heard before his next game.
In this case, the NRL and Melbourne Storm had agreed to defer the hearing out of respect for Newcastle forward Alex McKinnon, who was injured in the tackle.
“In my view, both the NRL and the Melbourne club should be commended for this sensible and sensitive approach to the tragic situation with which they have been confronted,” Mr Conlon said.
Mr Conlon found that “exceptional circumstances” existed in this case because the hearing had been deferred and he ruled that Jordan is entitled to play this weekend.
His charge will be heard by the NRL Judiciary on Wednesday, April 2.
#itaintweaktospeak
McLean gets 7 weeks for dangerous throw
By Darren Walton and James MacSmith
AAP
6:08pm Wed 02nd April, 2014
The NRL judiciary has suspended Jordan McLean for seven weeks after finding the Melbourne Storm prop guilty of a careless lifting tackle on Alex McKinnon that left the Newcastle back-rower with a devastating spinal injury.
The three-man panel comprising former Test players Bob Lindner, Mal Cochrane and Chris McKenna deliberated over the punishment for McLean for an hour and a half.
McLean sat stone-faced throughout the initial one-hour hearing at NRL headquarters in Sydney on Wednesday night.
The 22-year-old refused to watch any of the more than 30 replays of the three-man tackle gone wrong that were shown over and over from eight different camera angles.
McKinnon remains in Melbourne's The Alfred hospital in a serious but stable condition with a broken neck and facing the possibility of never being able to walk again.
The 22-year-old was brought out of an induced coma at the weekend following surgery last Tuesday for damage to his C4 and C5 vertebrae.
He has been conscious since and began communicating with his family on Sunday after his assisted ventilation was removed.
McLean's lawyer Nick Ghabar pleaded not guilty to the dangerous throw charge levelled against the 22-year-old, arguing McKinnon had been the victim of a "terrible and tragic accident".
"There will be no winners from tonight whatever you decide," Ghabar told the panel before submitting his case for McLean's innocence.
In one of the most anticipated judiciary hearings in the game's long history, Ghabar urged the panel to remove any emotion from the case and to exercise their common sense as former players to accept the tackle was an accident.
Ghabar expressed deep sympathy for McKinnon and his family but, insisted with respect that the Knights youngster "unfortunately and unwittingly" contributed to his injury by "tucking his head into his chest" before hitting the ground.
He said if McKinnon did not change his posture mid-tackle, "there is no way he would have landed on his head".
Ghabar also argued that McLean never lifted McKinnon much beyond horizontal - and certainly not vertical - and that "significant downward force" from the other two players in the tackle, Storm brothers Jesse and Kenny Bromwich, played as much part.
But the panel took less than 10 minutes to find McLean guilty.
NRL counsel Peter Kite, representing the prosecution, successfully contended that while the Bromwich brothers undoubtedly contributed to the tackle gone wrong, "substantial responsibility for the lift was borne by player McLean".
Before a packed media contingent listening to the evidence, judiciary chairman Paul Conlon SC reminded all parties that a dangerous throw was "lifting a player into a dangerous position and placing them at risk of suffering injury".
After getting his guilty verdict, Kite asked the panel to suspend McLean for between seven and 11 weeks because of the severity of McKinnon's injury.
#itaintweaktospeak
Way over the top suspension for McLean , terrible tragedy to McKinnon but it was an accident & I think the NRL may have just destroyed another players career with a suspension of 7 weeks
#itaintweaktospeak
Waerea-Hargreaves accepts one-game ban
By Staff Writers
NRL.com
12:30pm Tue 01st April, 2014
Rooster Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will miss Friday night's clash with the Bulldogs after offering an early guilty plea for his high shot on Manly's Glenn Stewart last weekend.
The prop pleaded guilty to a Grade 2 careless high tackle charge and is automatically barred from Round 5, while also accumulating 59 carry-over points.
Warriors forward Sione Lousi is disputing the grading of his Grade 2 dangerous throw for a tackle that forced Wests Tigers back-rower Cory Paterson from the field.
Lousi will serve a three-game ban should he be unsuccessful at the judiciary.
Storm winger Sisa Waqa has escaped suspension after pleading guilty to a Grade 1 careless high tackle for a hit on Bulldogs fullback Sam Perrett.
#itaintweaktospeak
As much as the incident is a tragedy for all involved. It's the repercussions of further restrictions in regards of Tackling procedures is what I'm concerned about. It was bad enough taking the shoulder charge out in recent times, what may come of this new unfortunate incident with Alex McKinnon may damn near ruin the game completely.
It may sound like a bit of beat up by me. But I am genuinely concern where we may end up with the game from here..
Is there people on the forum who genuinely think our game has been affected by the banning of the shoulder charge?
But yea, Jordan McLean has been treated so unjustly...
I'd hate to be the team playing the storm this week, we all know how well they play under controversy....
NEW! SOUTH! WALES!
Not with the shoulder charge alone. But if you've been following the game over a few decades, it's these little changes combined that are slowly but surely eroding away from what the game once was. I shudder to think where might possibly be in another 10 years.
Do we want our National game to resemble something like Oz Tag?
Don't you think people have been saying this for over 100 years??
Rugby League is a sport based entirely on rule changes (Rugby Union ---> Rugby League)
The game of rugby league is and always will be a progressive sport with rule changes to suit the times (sponsorship money)
NEW! SOUTH! WALES!
So you're happy with the direction that the game is heading?
Ahh ok, cool. I was beginning to think I may have been the odd one out with my view.
Also, I got no qualms with the game evolving for the better. What I am concerned about is if the game gets to the point where rule changes are rushed in to appease those that make the biggest noise (i.e. the nanny state do-gooders).
What happened between Round 1 & 2 during last years State of Origin is exactly what I'm getting at. Round 1, Gallen opted to bust his knuckles up on Myles noggin, and the no Biffo rule is rushed in. Round 2, there's a bit of Biffo once again which seen 4 players sent from the field. If I recall correctly, 2-3 of the players had nothing to do with it at all.
Also, the game as it is seems to over regulated at times due to too many rules. And quite often we see the Refs, Video Refs 'n Touchies stuff it up. Very rarely we'll see a game flow for any length of time due to the nature of the modern game..
I am so incensed with the Jordan McLean over-reaction that I emailed him personally through the Storm and got a very nice response. I feel very much for Alex Mckinnon's misfortune but McLean and every other player who takes the field runs the same risk and in fairness they should have had to prove "intent" to make that charge stick and what about the other two players in it? ... talk about a scapegoat.
Clean the game up by all means if that's what the majority wants but do it fairly, FFS.
Four reasons to escape to Queensland: Sun, Surf, Sand & the Titans.