Jared Waerea-Hargreaves on report after ’sickening hit’ on Liam Knight
The Sydney Roosters face an anxious wait after Jared Waerea-Hargreaves’ apparent shoulder charge forced rampaging South Sydney forward Liam Knight off the field. WATCH THE HIT.
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Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is on report, and a chance of missing the start of the NRL playoffs, after whacking South Sydney rival Liam Knight with what was described a “sickening hit”.
Apart from losing a classic Thursday Night Football match against arch rivals Souths, the Roosters also now have a nervous wait to see what happens to Waerea-Hargreaves after the forward appeared to hit Knight’s head with his shoulder as the Bunnies prop fell to the turf.
The collision, which occurred with six minutes remaining, saw Knight forced from the field in what was an otherwise outstanding performance from the Souths No.10.
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Speaking on Fox Sports, Matthew Johns described the JWH tackle as a “sickening hit”.
Fellow analyst Gorden Tallis agreed saying: “He (Waerea-hargreaves) hit him in the head. I know (Knight) has fallen but but it’s your responsibility not to strike another player in the head.
“The Roosters will have a case to answer because he’s fallen so there are some factors there but still he got him in the head and the guy’s had to leave the field.”
The controversial tackle effectively brought a premature end to what was otherwise an outstanding performance by Knight.
So strong was the rising prop, the big question now becomes: Do South bring George Burgess straight into the starting pack?
Once, there was no question.
The hulking Englishman, for a time, the first Bunnies forward picked not named Sam Burgess.
But now … well, coach Wayne Bennett has some decisions to make.
Especially after this one.
And that performance from the greatest Knight since David Hasselhoff drove a talking car.
Virtually unknown before this season, Knight is now shaping as something like the bedrock of South Sydney’s premiership tilt.
Once, this bloke was famous for little more than Aeroguard.
Not anymore.
No, now the 106kg powerhouse, who was born in Alice Springs, debuted at Manly in 2016, and has battled away anonymously for the past two years in Canberra, is suddenly proving the perfect one-two punch combination with skipper Slammin’ Sam.
Outstanding against the Roosters, the Rabbitohs No.10 churned through 134m — or the most of any Bunnies forward — while also earning four tackle busts, one offload and 20 tackles.
Oh, yeah, Knight also survived a series of seek-and-destroy missions orchestrated by Waerea-Hargreaves.
And the most noticeable of those came with six minutes to go, with replays showing JWH contacting his rival’s melon, and seemingly with a shoulder, as the Bunnies prop fell to the ground.
A contact that cut Knight and saw the Tricolours tough placed on report.
Which undoubtedly, creates a nervous wait for Jared.
But for the rest of us … we can’t wait to see these two bookends clash again, right?
For undoubtedly, Waerea-Hargreaves was looking to get himself Knights’ scalp.
Earlier in the game, charging out of the line to try and put a body shot on his Souths’ opposite.
But the Souths No.10 braced for the impact in such a way that JWH, he bounced off.
Body bag avoided.
Same deal near the finish.
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For while Knight was taken from the field, the early reports from Bunnies medical staff was a thumbs up.
So again, were does George now fit into this pack?
Especially given that when the big unit returns from his suspension for eye-gouging Wests Tigers hooker Robbie Farah, he will have been out for nine weeks.
Or something of an eternity in the NRL.
Earlier this week, Bennett said he couldn’t even guarantee Gorgeous George an immediate return to South Sydney’s side for the NRL finals, with twin brother Tom also pushing for a recall from his knee injury.
Asked whether Burgess, who is headed for the English Super League in 2020, would be rushed straight back into the pack, Bennett said insisted that “nobody’s an automatic selection”.
“We’ll just see where it’s at and how we play [on Thursday] night and who is doing what,” the coach added. “He’s been good. He’s trained hard and he’s keen to go of course. We’ve had a lot of guys doing the job since he’s been away.”
And so it was in this one.
By the break, Knight had charged for 93m — or more than any other forward on the field — against a ferocious Roosters defence, which included JWH racing out of the line to put on that shot.