Robbie Farah demands NRL gets tough on eye gouging as George Burgess faces ban
Just months after gouging New Zealand captain Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, George Burgess is now headed back to the NRL judiciary over a new incident deemed too serious for grading.
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Wests Tigers hooker Robbie Farah has urged the NRL to eradicate eye-gouging from the game, stating of the ugly crime: "There just isn't any excuse for it".
Sporting a visible welt and scratch marks around his right eye, Farah was on Thursday night the victim of an alleged eye gouge that now sees South Sydney's George Burgess staring down one of the longest suspensions in the NRL era.
Only seven months after gouging New Zealand captain Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in a Test match, Burgess is now headed back to the NRL judiciary over a new incident deemed too serious for grading.
The latest drama, which occurred in the opening minutes of Thursday Night Football at Bankwest Stadium, and immediately infuriated the Wests Tigers No. 9, also continues a long run of charges against the Rabbitohs enforcer.
It has been suggested Burgess could now miss anywhere from six to 12 weeks.
Interviewed in the Tigers sheds afterwards, Farah confirmed he had felt a finger go into his eye, but stressed he "didn't want to throw anyone under a bus".
"It's hard for me to comment because whatever I say is going to incriminate the bloke (Burgess)," he said.
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"But yeah, I felt it.
"And it was significant enough to get a reaction out of me.
"My eye is fairly sore.
"I don't know why he did it. Or what he was thinking.
"But I don't want to comment too much because whatever I say, it won't be good for George."
Pressed on the issue, Farah continued: "You've got your own eyes, you saw the replays.
"I'll leave it at that.
"George apologised to me after the game and said it was an accident. Which … um, yeah I dunno … he apologised and I accept it."
Asked if gouging a rival's eye was among the worst things a footballer could do, Farah continued: "For me it is.
"Eye gouging, biting we can't have that sort of thing in the game.
"It's not a good look.
"The high tackle at times can be accidental, or reactionary.
"But I don't think there is any excuse for these other things and hopefully we can stamp it out.
"We've cracked down recently on the crusher tackle. And years ago we cracked down on the lifting tackles.
"So if that's what we need to do to deter players from going out there and doing those things … if the punishment is strong enough players won't do it."
Following the incident against Watene-Zelezniak last year, Burgess missed four games, including the opening three matches of the 2019 NRL season.
"So I dare say there will be loading or whatever happens with him," Farah continued. "He's probably going to be big loss to the Rabbitohs at a crucial time of the year. It's disappointing from their end."
The Tigers veteran also urged the NRL to introduce tougher penalties for eye-gouging, stressing it had to be wiped from the game completely.
In two other cases this year, North Queensland forward Josh McGuire was fined just $3350 for gouging, while Canberra backrower Hudson Young earned a five-game suspension.
Regarding the latest Burgess incident, replays showed Farah reacting immediately and complaining to the referee.
Initially though, the Tigers hooker thought Bunnies No. 9 Damien Cook was the culprit.
"I got up spraying Cookie because he was last off the tackle," Farah said. "But the referee saw it straight away.
"I got up blowing up and the referee told me to calm down, said that he had control of it.
"And they dealt with it.
"I was pretty dirty at the time … and my eye is still pretty sore."
Originally published as Robbie Farah demands NRL gets tough on eye gouging as George Burgess faces ban
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