Corey Waddell referred straight to judiciary for alleged eye gouge of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui

Corey Waddell has been referred straight to the judiciary for an alleged eye gouge on Titans Tino Fa’asuamaleaui. Get the latest details here.

The Titans say skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was trying to defuse the situation when he put Matt Burton in a headlock. Source: Channel 9

Bulldogs forward Corey Waddell has been referred straight to the judiciary for an alleged eye gouge on Titans Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.

Waddell has been dealt a dangerous contact charge by the NRL match review committee following the incident in Canterbury’s win over the Gold Coast on Sunday.

An apologetic Waddell denied eye-gouging Fa’asuamaleaui after the Bulldogs delivered on their promise of revenge with a feisty 36-26 win at CommBank Stadium on Sunday.

The Bulldogs second-rower insisted he made accidental contact with Fa’asuamaleaui’s eyes after attempting to bring the star forward to the ground in the 23rd minute of a fiery encounter.

Referee Ben Cummins asked the bunker to investigate, saying: “He’s accusing the (player) of scraping across the eyes.”

Waddell was penalised and placed on report but is confident of being cleared.

“I went to get my arm over and push him on his back and obviously my hand wasn’t in the best position,” he explained.

“When I realised it was on his face, I released it. It wasn’t intentional, there was malice there.

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Corey Waddell wraps his fingers around Tino Fa'asuamaleaui’s face. NRL

Gold Coast's Tino Fa'asuamaleaui complains to the referee. Picture: NRL

“I didn’t realise what he was blowing up for but I didn’t think my fingers were in his eyes or anything like that.

“They’ll have a look at the vision but they’ll realise I just got my hand in the wrong spot. There was nothing in it.”

Fa’asuamaleaui pointed straight at Waddell after the incident and then pointed to his right eye as Cummins stopped play to ask for bunker intervention.

Replays show Waddell’s arm reaching over Fa’asuamaleaui’s shoulder and covering his eyes with his left hand.

A Titans player can be heard screaming: “You’re a fuc*ing cat, you’re a fuc*ing dog, mate.”

Before penalising Waddell, Cummins tells him: “You’ve been around the face and it’s on report. Don’t go there.”

After the match, Fa’asuamaleaui accepted Waddell’s actions were not deliberate.

He said: “It’s just footy. Sometimes your hand goes somewhere you don’t know where it is.

“It happened to be on my forehead and hit my eye, but it’s accidental.”

The incident was part of an action-packed afternoon for Fa’asuamaleaui, who was targeted on and off the field.

Titans coach Justin Holbrook was also feeling the heat after overseeing an eighth consecutive loss.

The Dogs vowed to get even with the volatile Fa’asuamaleaui after he man-handled and bullied their star five-eighth Matt Burton during Origin III – and they made good on their word.

Tino Fa'asuamaleaui attempts to smooth things over with Matt Burton. Picture: NRL Imagery

If revenge is a dish best served cold, this meal came from the deep freeze.

It was the cleanest of hits jobs, carried out in in plain sight in front of 11,726 witnesses.

Canterbury fans booed Fa’asuamaleaui’s every touch, chanted “Tino’s a wan*er” and laughed out loud when he dropped a loose ball to butcher a certain try early in the first half.

The long-haired skipper was also chased by Tevita Pangai Junior after appearing to hit the Bulldogs forward with a shoulder charge, only adding to the crowd’s displeasure.

Fa’asuamaleaui never shirked from the contest and gave as good as he got – but he will be happy not to have to face the Dogs again in 2022.

The blue and whites are well out of finals contention but obviously haven’t received the memo, ripping into the contest for a ferocity usually reserved for a team at the pointy end of the table.

The Titans didn’t lack passion or physicality but couldn’t go the distance as they racked up another defeat away from home.

Canterbury scored four tries in the first half hour – winger Josh Addo-Carr collecting a double, including a 90m intercept – to skip out to a comfortable 26-10 lead at the break.

When the Fox completed his hat-trick six minutes into the second half – jumping on anther 90m intercept - the contest was as good as over despite a mini Gold Coast revival.

TITANS FAIL TO STRIKE GOLD

You have to search all the way back to mid-May to find the Titans’ last win – a four-point victory over St George Illawarra in Magic Round.

They have lost their last eight games – and 12 of their last 13 – to ramp up the pressure on coach Justin Holbrook.

Gold Coast have also proved poor travellers, failing to win a game in NSW since May last year.

No wonder Holbrook took to the sideline to try and whip his side home as they threatened a massive comeback against the Bulldogs.

Josh Addo-Carr scored two long-range tries. Picture: Matt King/Getty

Trailing 26-6 at one stage, the visitors narrowed the gap to just 10 points at the hour mark as the introduction of livewire fullback Jayden Campbell sparked a resurrection.

It came to nothing.

The Titans showed no lack of fight – as they did against the Broncos a week earlier - but the results don’t lie and time may be running out for Holbrook to save his job.

FOX ON THE TROT

Rugby league has seen some great intercept exponents over the decades and Josh Addo-Carr is right up in that elite company.

The Fox pinched two opportunistic long-range tries either side of half-time after snuffing out attacking raids before dashing 90m to score.

Addo-Carr’s pace is one thing, but it’s his great anticipation and timing that allows him to be in position to capitalise on intercept chances.

The Dogs winger could have finished with four tries but unselfishly unloaded to Burton for a match-sealing four-pointer 15 minutes from the end.

Tino laughs off revenge promise

- Callum Dick

Gold Coast playmaker Tanah Boyd believes Canterbury’s grudge against Tino Fa’asuamaleaui is misplaced and has backed the Titans’ skipper to roll with the Bulldogs’ punches when the two teams clash on Sunday.

The Bulldogs went public with their dislike of the Gold Coast captain after his involvement in the game three State of Origin brawl that featured Canterbury playmaker Matt Burton and Fa’asuamaleaui’s Maroons teammate, Dane Gagai.

Fa’asuamaleaui joined the fray as the two Origin centres began throwing haymakers and held Burton back, to which Blues fans and Bulldogs players took particular umbrage.

The Titans say skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was trying to defuse the situation when he put Matt Burton in a headlock. Source: Channel 9

But Boyd believes his skipper was simply trying to defuse the situation, not hold Burton down to be a punching bag as has been suggested.

“That’s all he was trying to do I think, he was trying to get him away from it,” Boyd said.

Then there was the swinging arm that collected Burton across the face which the Titans skipper later played down, but has angered the Bulldogs enough to offer a public promise for revenge come Sunday.

Boyd said the Titans had not even discussed the biting words ahead of the game, choosing instead to focus on the litany of other problems plaguing the team at the moment – such as the seven-game losing streak.

“I saw it (the Bulldogs’ comments) but we won’t care about that,” he said.

“Tino will take that in his stride, that’s for sure. He won’t hold back. He won’t care.”

With every loss the screws tighten on head coach Justin Holbrook, who has already lost two of his backroom staff in high performance manager Klint Hoare and assistant coach Jim Dymock.

Gold Coast playmaker Tanah Boyd has defended Tino, and backed him to help the Titans break their losing streak. NRL Imagery

Holbrook cut a dejected figure after the Titans let slip a potential pressure-relieving win over the Broncos at the weekend but Boyd said it was on the players to perform for their coach.

“We’ve handled it pretty well to be honest. We’re not getting results on the field and we’re the only ones who can change that (so) that’s been our main focus,” he said.

“We can’t worry about (off-field problems).”

With Jayden Campbell a chance to return to the side this weekend if his high hamstring injury is cleared by the medical staff, the Titans’ spine could yet again be shaken up.

Boyd played well in the No. 6 alongside Toby Sexton at the weekend, in his first run-on start for the season.

But if Campbell is fit that could force a reshuffle that moves AJ Brimson back into the halves, despite his good form in the No. 1 over the past fortnight.

Justin Holbrook’s coaching future is up in the air after the Titans 14th loss for the season against the Broncos. Picture: Getty Images.

For his part Boyd relished the opportunity to play five-eighth and build on his halves partnership with Sexton, whom he spent time alongside in the Queensland Cup last year.

“Obviously I played all my juniors (in the halves) and it comes pretty natural so it felt comfy and was fine,” he said.

“Last year I did a lot with Toby in the reggies so I felt fine there, and Boothy (Aaron Booth) slotting in (at hooker) was really good. I feel like I complemented Sexy a bit and we worked well but there’s obviously a lot of improvement we can get there.”

Originally published as Corey Waddell referred straight to judiciary for alleged eye gouge of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui