NRL 2023: Dolphins star Felise Kaufusi suspended for four weeks, Storm half Jahrome Hughes to miss two weeks
Dolphins enforcer Felise Kaufusi has learnt whether he will play in the Battle of Brisbane, after a trip to the judiciary to have his charge downgraded.
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Felise Kaufusi says his reputation had nothing to do with the decision to suspend him for four matches after the Dolphins enforcer failed to have his dangerous contact charge on Jackson Hastings downgraded at the NRL judiciary.
It’s a major blow for the Dolphins ahead of their historic clash with the Broncos with Kaufusi banned for four games as the league’s newest team tries to build on its 3-0 start.
Kaufusi was hit with a grade two charge for his late shot but was trying to have it reduced to a $3000 fine by using a comparable tackle by Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii from the previous week as the main piece of evidence at Tuesday night’s hearing.
The Roosters centre copped a $3000 fine after pleading guilty to a grade one dangerous contact charge for his late shot on Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
But the panel of Bob Lindner and Paul Simpkins reached a unanimous verdict and found Kaufusi guilty, taking the view that the force on Hastings was far greater and increased the risk of injury.
Kaufusi 4 weeks - the NRL judiciary system is a complete farce. Seriously one of the worst decisions I can recall. A complete lack of consistency, common sense and rationality.
— BUZZ ROTHFIELD (@BuzzRothfield) March 21, 2023
Scott Drinkwater gets 3 weeks for shoulder charge that broke an opponent’s jaw. Kaufusi gets 4 weeks for late tackle and no injury. The judiciary needs a complete overhaul. The people on the panel who made this decision should be stood down from future hearings.
— BUZZ ROTHFIELD (@BuzzRothfield) March 21, 2023
The panel took 30 minutes to deliberate, telling Kaufusi that Hastings was entitled to relax his body once the ball had been passed.
Kaufusi has always played on the edge as one of the more aggressive players in the game, but he’s adamant that his reputation had nothing to do with the decision.
“Not at all,” a clearly shattered Kaufusi replied.
“I thought we had a good case to downgrade it. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
“It’ll take some time for this to sink in.
“I’m pretty disappointed with the verdict. I thought we had good grounds to fight the downgrade, but I guess the panel didn’t see it that way.”
Defence counsel Nick Ghabar’s main argument was that Suaalii’s contact was “grossly careless” when compared to Kaufusi, who he said didn’t have as much time to pull out of the tackle.
Ghabar pointed to the fact that Hastings wasn’t injured – although he did come off for an HIA – and that “there was an attempt to minimise the force by not following through with his right arm”.
“That’s acting with some level of care that you didn’t see in Suaalii’s tackle,” Ghabar said, adding that ‘Blind Freddy’ could have seen that the Warriors fullback had passed the ball well before Suaalii made contact.
Judiciary counsel Patrick Knowles argued that there had been no attempt by Kaufusi to change what he was doing after he saw that Hastings had released the ball.
He also countered Ghabar’s point by suggesting that Suaalii couldn’t have known that Nicoll-Klokstad had released the ball.
“There is a sense of whiplash as he’s struck in his position of vulnerability,” Knowles told the panel, arguing that there were no mitigating factors.
“He’s already let go of the ball and Kaufusi is about a metre away. Kaufusi doesn’t make any attempt to slow down…luckily it didn’t lead to serious injury.”
Kaufusi will now miss games against the Broncos, Dragons, Cowboys and Rabbitohs, with footy fans in Brisbane robbed of seeing one of the game’s hardest hitters on Friday night.
Meanwhile, Roosters prop Fletcher Baker won’t have to pay a $1500 fine after he was found not guilty of a grade one careless high tackle charge.
Baker could have accepted a $1000 fine if he’d taken the early guilty plea but chose to clear his name for a tackle on South Sydney’s Campbell Graham.
Roosters football manager Chris James – who served as defence counsel – argued that Baker was careful rather than careless and that the contact was unavoidable once Graham decided to spin into the tackle.
The panel agreed, saying Baker “simply held his ground” and that the predominant force was generated by Graham.
HITS KEEP COMING FOR STORM WITH HUGHES SUSPENDED
Jahrome Hughes has been banned for two matches after he failed in his bid to have a grade two dangerous contact charge reduced at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night.
It’s yet another blow for a Storm side that has lost two of its first three matches and would equal its worst start to a season since 2004 if they can’t beat the Wests Tigers on Friday.
Craig Bellamy does get superstar five-eighth Cameron Munster back but the club is still dealing with a massive injury toll, with Hughes’ absence likely to see Jonah Pezet come in for his second NRL game.
Hughes appeared via video link and pleaded guilty to the dangerous contact charge but tried to have it downgraded which would have resulted in a fine, while he would have copped a one-game ban if he’d taken the early guilty plea.
The Storm halfback was penalised in the opening six minutes of Saturday’s game on the Gold Coast when he rushed out of the line to pressure Tanah Boyd as he kicked, but caught him late without any real effort to wrap his arms or charge the ball down.
Judiciary counsel Patrick Knowles argued that the contact was both forceful and dangerous and that there were no mitigating factors that contributed to Hughes’ decision to affect the tackle.
“The kicker is the most vulnerable player on the field,” Knowles said.
“They’re concentrating on the ball, not the defence. They’ve got no ability to protect themselves.
“Boyd didn’t have the benefit of bracing himself. The fact that he (Hughes) closes his eyes shows he put himself where the contact that occurred was out of control.
“Having realised that contact was about to occur, what Hughes does not do is extend his arms to lessen the force of impact.”
Defence counsel Nick Ghabar argued that Hughes was in fact simply bracing for contact and that the only time Boyd’s head went near the ground was when he went on an “acting mission” to earn a penalty.
His main piece of evidence was a comparable tackle that featured in the NRL’s library from Round 8 back in 2021 when North Queensland’s Coen Hess was slapped with a grade one dangerous contact charge for a late hit on Reece Walsh.
“It’s more dangerous, carries a far greater risk of injury and has more force to the head and neck, which is something we’re trying to protect players from,” Ghabar said in reference to the Hess tackle.
“On any rational basis, the worst possible grading for Hughes is a grade one.”
But the judiciary panel of Paul Simpkins and Bob Lindner reached a unanimous guilty verdict, indicating that they felt the Hess incident had been inappropriately graded and that dangerous contact was inevitable based on Hughes’ actions.
It means Hughes will miss games against the Tigers and Rabbitohs on a night that former Storm teammate Felise Kaufusi was also banned for four matches.
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