Phil Gould has unloaded as Marata Niukore, Dale Finucane and Jayden Okunbor prepare for appeals at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday, slamming the charges they copped as “farcical”.
Warriors recruit Niukore, Sharks inspiration Finucane and Bulldogs forward Okunbor are set to be suspended after performing on Sunday what the match review committee deemed to be hip-drop tackles.
They’ve been dealt grade-two charges for dangerous contact, with Niukore facing up to three games on the sideline, Finucane four matches and Okunbor two. Differences in loading is the reason for the variation.
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Gould blasted the match review committee on Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night.
“That’s the problem with our game; when we get one little incident about a thing, they group in a whole other group of tackles that don’t resemble that whatsoever,” Gould said.
“The three hip-drop charges on the weekend are farcical. They’re not hip-drop tackles in the traditional sense. We as footballers can see that.
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“But they’ll group them in it and you won’t beat them at the judiciary. No way they’re going to let all three off, so all three will be found guilty … You’re wasting your time going down there and trying to plead your case.
“They’re not hip-drop tackles. We can see it as footballers, coaches can see it. It’s frustrating.”
After the Warriors’ wild 32-30 victory over the Sharks, Niukore landed in hot water for a tackle against Siosifa Talakai, while Finucane was pinged for a move on Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
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Okunbor is in trouble for a tackle against Jason Taumalolo in the Bulldogs’ pulsating 15-14 golden point win over the Cowboys.
Niukore, Finucane and Okunbor were all sin-binned.
“We can’t be suspending players for actions like that, which are pure accidents during the course of play,” Gould added.
“We’re going to have them.
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“The hip-drop one — we all know what that looks like. And it is dangerous — when blokes are standing in the tackle and it’s the only way they can pull them down.
“When you get swung around the back of a bloke and you land on him — that’s been happening for years and years and years. You can’t suddenly eradicate that from the game because we’ve had one bad incident where someone went to an extra level to get them down.”
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