‘Gobsmacked’: Shock as Raiders’ Corey Horsburgh banned for four weeks

Canberra Raiders star Corey Horsburgh has only a slim chance of playing again this year over an incident few believe warranted the punishment.

Horsburgh has been stood down for four weeks. Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Fiery Canberra forward Corey Horsburgh won’t play again this year unless the Raiders make the grand final after he was slapped with a four-game ban for a shoulder charge on Corey Jensen that’s the latest blow for the Raiders ahead of their must-win match against the Sharks.

The judiciary panel of Sean Hampstead and Bob Lindner listened to a 40-minute hearing and took just 25 minutes to find Horsburgh guilty with a unanimous verdict.

Horsburgh could have accepted a three-game ban but risked the extra week after the Queensland forward decided to fight his grade one charge for a tackle in the 79th minute that wasn’t penalised.

“I’m obviously very disappointed with the result,” Horsburgh said.

“I just wanted to thank Nick (Ghabar) for representing me

“I think four weeks is a bit much, but it is what it is.”

The decision to rub the forward, who made his Origin debut for Queensland this season, out of the Raiders’ finals charge didn’t sit well with rivals however.

Manly prop Aaron Woods was stunned.

“Gobsmacked. I can’t believe it,” Woods said.

“I thought it was a great hit … he’s hit him square on so it’s hard to really wrap your [arm] the way he hit him.

“You can sort of see the arm comes up as he makes contact … that’s not a shoulder charge. When we know it’s a shoulder charge the ref will penalise it straight away. It was play on, Jensen got up not a care in the world.”

Brutal for Horsburgh. Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Even Sharks forward Dale Finucane, who would have lined up against Horsburgh next week, was shocked by the result.

“I’d be disappointed with that result. The action we were trying to get out of the game was the traditional arm across the body which put you in a vulnerable position, head on shoulder contact. I didn’t see any of that in the criteria for that tackle.”

Judiciary counsel Patrick Knowles said that there was “no doubt that the contact was forceful” and that neither arm was trying to wrap in the tackle, with Horsburgh doing himself no favours by clenching his fist in the contact.

“There can be no doubt that the contact involves Horsburgh’s upper arm makes direct contact with the ball carrier,” Knowles said.

“There is no attempt to use the arm here.

“Shoulder charges are illegal in rugby league because the greater levels of risk that a player can exert using a shoulder alone is dangerous.”

Defence counsel Nick Ghabar tried to sway the panel with several key arguments based on eight camera angles that proved the contact wasn’t careless and that it was a legitimate front-on tackle made by a player trying to wrap his arms.

Ghabar argued that the first contact was made by Horsburgh’s right pectoral area and that his right arm was never tucked in, although Knowles shot that down because that’s not a key element in a shoulder charge.

The hard working Horsburgh is a big loss for the Raiders. Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images

The main submission was that Jensen put his bumpers up which stopped Horsburgh from extending his right arm in a wrapping motion and gave the false impression that it was a shoulder charge.

But the judiciary panel ruled that there was no attempt to wrap the right arm and that the clenched fist meant he wasn’t trying to make a conventional tackle.

Horsburgh will now miss Sunday afternoon’s game against Cronulla, with the winner set to host a final next week, with the Raiders an outside chance of missing the top eight if results go against them.

The verdict was not music to the ears of diehard Raiders supporter Simon Tayoun who waited outside Rugby League Central decked out in Canberra gear and his trademark drum.

It’s another blow to the Green Machine who will be without veteran prop Josh Papalii for the rest of the season due to a biceps injury.