Buzz: Nick Cotric is not a thug, nor a grub but he had to cop a ban for spear tackle

From the moment Raiders star Nick Cotric lifted Dragons centre Tim Lafai and dumped him on his head, the NRL’s process has worked flawlessly writes Phil Rothfield.

• Have your say: Did NRL get Cotric ban right?

• Ricky Stuart fumes at referee over spear tackle

The NRL has finally got its foul-play procedures right.

From the moment Raiders star Nick Cotric lifted Dragons centre Tim Lafai and dumped him on his head, the process has worked flawlessly.

Referee Ashley Klein went to the bunker to check the video before the message came back that it was a send-off offence and the player was removed from the field.

The NRL match-review committee then determined it was a three-week punishment.

Nick Cotric was sent from the ground for spearing Tim Lafai of the Dragons during round 17. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

They could have overreacted because of the wave of criticism over their decision the previous week not to properly punish Kyle Flanagan for kneeing Matt Lodge in the head.

The fact Cotric had no priors worked in his favour. He is not a thug or a grub.

This was a high-speed accident but a dangerous and careless one.

We’re lucky Lafai was not seriously hurt.

In the past Cotric would have been put on report and left on the field of play.

If there is one good thing to come from the recent George Burgess eye-gouging incident is that the NRL has finally brought back the send-off rule.

Prior to Cotric only two players had been sent off in six years.

The message is now out there for the players, the clubs and the fans.

Serious foul play will not be tolerated.

That teams run the risk of being left with 12 men for the high-scale incidents.

And that’s the way it should be.