ARLC chairman Peter Beattie denies Billy Slater verdict means the shoulder charge will be watered down
ARLC chairman Peter Beattie has emphatically declared the shoulder charge will not make a return despite Billy Slater being cleared to play in Sunday’s grand final.
NRL
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ARLC chairman Peter Beattie has emphatically declared the shoulder charge will not make a return despite Billy Slater being cleared to play in Sunday’s grand final.
The decision to find Slater not guilty at the judiciary on Wednesday night has now set a precedent for the way some shoulder charges are sanctioned. But Beattie is adamant the shoulder charge remains banned and will not creep back into the game after it was outlawed in 2015.
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“No one is watering down the shoulder charge,” Beattie said. “It is dangerous for the game. We have rules against it. We’re not watering them down.
“No one should think we are going to slack off on shoulder charges. We’re not. That rule is not negotiable because that is all about player safety.”
Beattie said the rule would be reviewed at the end of the season.
“We look at everything,” Beattie said. “We will look at this too. It is 200 points, you go out for a game.
“We have to protect player safety. At the end of each season, of course we look at everything. But if anyone thinks we’re not going to enforce the rule on shoulders, they are absolutely wrong.
“We need to get that message out before the grand final.
“No one should think this was a slackening of the rule. This was an interpretation of the facts, not a changing of the rule.”
The interpretation Beattie refers to comes back to the decision made by the judiciary panel members Sean Garlic, Bob Lindner and Mal Cochrane who cleared Slater of any wrongdoing.
Beattie said the trio had the right to make the decision.
“The NRL can’t win on these things,” Beattie said. “You are damned if you do and you are damned if you don’t. The most important thing to say is this is an independent process. Three players who have played more than 250 games — these guys know the game and therefore it had gone the other way, there would have still been controversy about it. To be frank, it is a great way to lead into the grand final, a great promotion for the game.
“Controversy doesn’t do us any harm. I see the controversy on social media. I just want to make the point that at the end of the day, this is an independent process. The decision is not made by Todd Greenberg or the ARL Commission.”
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