‘I feel horrible’: Mitch Barnett handed six week ban after NRL ugly elbow

Mitch Barnett had one of the great brain snaps in rugby league against the Penrith Panthers and the Knights star has learned his fate.

The play that cost Barnett six weeks. Photo: Fox League

Newcastle Knights forward Mitch Barnett has been handed a six week ban after elbow on Panthers player Chris Smith on the weekend.

Barnett was sent off for the act and became the first Knight since 2013 to be sent off for the ugly act before he was referred straight to the Match Review Committee for the dangerous contact.

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The reaction to the incident was swift for the 33rd minute incident as the Knights couldn’t hold on in the top of the table clash as the Panthers ran away with a 38-20 victory.

“That is nasty,” said Fox League caller Warren Smith.

“What an absolute brain explosion by Mitch Barnett. As cheap as it gets.”

“This is ugly, this is stupid,” Fox League expert Cooper Cronk said of the hit at halftime.

“It’s a moment of madness,” added Benji Marshall.

“Seriously, it’s unnecessary. To get past the player, you can just move him out of the way. There’s no need to lift the elbow.”

Smith ultimately sat out the remainder of the match after failing a head injury assessment, but escaped injury to his jaw for the hit. He has also not been selected in the Panthers’ round four sides for the NRL or NSW Cup.

The play that cost Barnett six weeks. Photo: Fox League

The judiciary hearing boiled down to Barnett’s representative Nick Ghabar arguing it was careless rather than intentional and that he was trying to push off Smith.

“My focus is to the outside because I know there is a definite threat there. My ultimate goal is to effectively make it three-on-three to stop the try,” Barnett said under questioning.

“I raised my bumper because I wanted to push through without falling over. We are coached to not to leave it up to the referee – to get through and make the tackle.”

“I hadn’t seen the player until the last second when he came into my peripheral vision. My goal is to fill the space (between Clune and Bradman Best) without getting knocked over. I just saw a black jersey. I made a split-second decision”.

He added that the initial contact was with the chest not the jaw.

“I felt horrible. Not only did I let my teammates down for the rest of the game … I was worried for Chris,” he said. “I didn’t know how he was. I made a split second decision at speed to try to stop a try. If I had my time again I wouldn’t raise my arm so high.”

Ghabar asked for a four-match ban and another match off because he pleaded guilty.

But the NRL’s counsel Lachlan Gyles said it was reckless at best and called for eight matches, or more if the panel deemed it intentional.

He said Smith was concussed and “was prone and defenceless against someone running at force”.

But the panel of Bob Lindner, Tony Puletua and Geoff Bellew decided it fell in the middle, banning Barnett until the Knights’ round 10 clash against the Bulldogs.

Was a pretty clear send off. Photo: NRL Imagery

It continued a heated debate on NRL 360 before the ruling was handed down as Paul Kent and Braith Anasta fired up in disagreement over the hit.

On Monday, NRL 360’s Paul Kent defended Barnett’s actions, arguing he was doing a “check and release” on the decoy runner.

“Mitch Barnett has been a bit of a punching bag for the last couple of days … so it’s been a bit of a bash-up on him,” he said on Monday.

However the rest of the panel disagreed, with Braith Anasta even saying he “sounded like an idiot”.

On Tuesday, Kent said he “never argued his innocence” rather there were “mitigating circumstances”.

David Riccio said the intent would be difficult to prove.

But Anasta was in disbelief over the action.

“Your defence of this is crazy,” Kent said. “He’s deliberately lifted his elbow up.

“The check and release is rubbish, rubbish. I’ve played the game long enough to know Kenty that it’s garbage. The argument itself I think is a decent one, I just don’t agree with it.

“A lot of players in our game have this in them where they make mistakes at critical times and they lose their head. They can’t explain themselves why it happens. I see this as one of those moments and he needs to pay the price for it. It’s as simple as that because we can’t have it in the game.”

Anasta said six weeks was what it should get.

Later in the show, Broncos great Corey Parker agreed it wasn’t an accident because of where his arm ended up.

“The check and release garbage that I’ve heard, you just don’t do that in a check and release,” he said.

“It’s a situation that sometimes happens and it’s unprovoked and there’s no defence,” James Graham added.

Originally published as ‘I feel horrible’: Mitch Barnett handed six week ban after NRL ugly elbow