Dylan Brown’s suspension puts Eels in sticky situation

Dylan Brown is set for a stint on the sidelines but the suspension will create a bigger headache than usual for Eels coach Brad Arthur.

Brown’s suspension has created a selection headache for Eels coach Brad Arthur. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Parramatta’s Dylan Brown will miss three weeks of football for his late hit on Roosters playmaker Drew Hutchison during the Eels’ round nine win.

Brown was handed a grade three dangerous contact charge after sliding into Hutchison’s back with his knees, forcing the five-eighth from the field and later to hospital.

Brown accepted the early guilty plea and will miss Parramatta’s upcoming clashes with the Warriors, Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs.

The incident was the subject of much debate and scrutiny over the weekend, after neither The Bunker nor onfield referee Matt Cecchin chose to award the Roosters a penalty for Brown’s move.

The oversight came just days after the NRL announced it would be clamping down on dangerous defensive tactics.

“I don’t know how The Bunker or the onfield referee missed the knees in the back,” said Fox League commentator Greg Alexander on Friday night.

Per the NRL’s new rules, the depleted Roosters could have injected 18th man Joseph Suaali into the action for his hotly anticipated NRL debut had Brown been sin-binned.

Instead, Brown was put on report at halftime, leaving Suaali to ride the pine for the second stanza and coach Trent Robinson to vent his frustration post-match.

“It’s ridiculous, it’s incompetent to not see that,” the Roosters boss said of the match officials’ blunder.

Brown’s hit left Hutchinson in agony. NRL Imagery

Following the fallout from the incident, the NRL’s Head of Football Graham Annesley announced the Bunker officials presiding over the game would be stood down.

Brown’s suspension and the NRL’s recent reintroduction of COVID-19 protocols puts the Eels in an unusual predicament heading into Magic Round.

After Sydney’s outbreak of community COVID-19 transmission last week, the NRL announced stricter rules for its players and staff, effectively reimplementing the team “bubbles” adopted last year.

The league instructed teams not to play fringe first graders in the lower grade competitions in round nine, as doing so would force them to leave the bubble and therefore relinquish their availability for interstate travel ahead of Magic Round in Brisbane this weekend.

The Eels failed to heed the advice and played six members of their top 30 in the NSW Cup over the weekend.

A concussion to Eels hooker Reed Mahoney and suspensions to Brown and teammate Marata Niukore mean the club is scrambling to find players eligible for the Suncorp Stadium road trip.

Parramatta has applied for an exemption to allow Wiremu Greig, Joey Lussick, Michael Oldfield, Jordan Rankin, Ray Stone and Will Penisini to travel interstate but the NRL is yet to grant approval publicly.