Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater set to miss NRL Grand Final after being charged over shoulder charge
MELBOURNE Storm premiership captain Glenn Lazarus says Billy Slater missing out on a grand final will be an “absolute travesty” but NRL legend is worried the retiring gun will not be able to beat the ban for a shoulder charge.
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MELBOURNE Storm premiership captain Glenn Lazarus says Billy Slater missing out on a grand final will be an “absolute travesty”.
But the five-time NRL premiership legend, and inaugural Storm leader, is worried Slater will not be able to beat the career-ending one-game ban for a shoulder charge during last night’s preliminary final win over Cronulla.
ANALYSIS: STORM V SHARKS PLAYER RATINGS
“He’s not going to play, I believe, he’s not going to play next week unless there’s some miraculous lawyer out there that can argue it wasn’t a shoulder charge and to be honest I don’t think it’s clear cut, so I think they will have a bit of a go at clearing him,” Lazarus told the Herald Sun.
“It will be an absolute travesty.”
Any rule that penalises the collision Billy Slater executed to save a try for his team is a bad rule. Said this ever since the ban on so-called shoulder charges first introduced. Over zealous policing of shoulder charge leads us to undesirable outcome. Needs to be case by case.
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) September 21, 2018
Billy Slater risks serious injury to himself with any other kind of tackle under the circumstances. These players are at full speed. The best result for both players was the collision that took place. Less danger for both. No one injured. Play on.
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) September 22, 2018
Joining fellow legend Phil Gould, Lazarus slammed the NRL’s knee-jerk rule changes.
Responding to media and public backlash, the league cracked down on shoulder charges to deter players from body checking opponents in car crash style head-on collisions without making an attempt to tackle.
But the mandated ban for shoulder charges, on this occasion, has left the league red faced and threatened the Storm’s bid for back-to-back NRL crowns.
“What they (NRL) don’t do is think about the ramifications of the rule changes and take time to make sure that the wording is correct because what Billy Slater did last night is nothing short of heroic,” Lazarus said.
“He’s come from nowhere and just launched himself at a player that’s quite a considerable sized bigger than him, putting his body on the line to save a try knowing that at the end of the day they can go into another grand final.
“He was doing it for his mate... unfortunately the rules state that (if) you don’t attempt to wrap arms around and make contact with the shoulder first it’s deemed as a shoulder charge.”
Slater will miss the grand final unless the Storm successfully challenge a contentious the ban
The NRL match review committee today handed Slater a grade-one charge, which attracts a 200-point penalty.
It means he will miss Sunday’s decider even with an early plea discount.
The Storm have confirmed they will challenge the decision at the NRL Judiciary on Tuesday in a bid to clear Slater.
Storm football director Frank Ponissi said the club was disappointed with the verdict but would fight for Slater.
“We must now focus on giving Billy the best chance of playing in Sunday’s grand final,” Popnissi said in the statement.
“We have spoken with our defence team and feel we have a very strong case.”
Storm captain Cameron Smith was sensationally suspended ahead of the 2008 grand final, with Manly Sea Eagles blasting Melbourne 40-0.
North Queensland enforcer Matt Scott was suspended for one match early in the season for a front-on shoulder charge against former Storm utility Young Tonumaipea.
But Gold Coast forward Jarrod Wallace rolled the dice and won at the Judiciary last year.
Slater said after the match he wasn’t concerned that he would be charged over the tackle.
“I wasn’t worried at the time,” Slater said, without having seen a replay.
“When it was a penalty I thought what was the penalty for, but then I realised I got my body in an awkward position.
“It’s pretty hard to make a conventional tackle when you’re going across at top speed trying to save a try like that ...It was just a collision.”
Originally published as Melbourne Storm fullback Billy Slater set to miss NRL Grand Final after being charged over shoulder charge