‘He’s a bit hard done by’: Was Hughes’ referee shove worse than Luai’s?

The Storm were locked in talks on Sunday night about whether to go to the judiciary and fight Jahrome Hughes’s charge of shoving a referee.

Already without five-eighth Cameron Munster (groin) for the opening weeks of the season, New Zealand international Hughes could join him on the sidelines after being charged for making contact with whistleblower Chris Butler in Melbourne’s miracle win over the Warriors.

The NRL match review committee hit Hughes with a grade two contrary conduct charge on Sunday for barrelling into Butler as he desperately tried to position himself to stop Warriors centre Rocco Berry from scoring a second-half try.

The charge carries a one-game suspension for an early guilty plea or two matches if he unsuccessfully fights it at the judiciary.

Melbourne officials were on Sunday night studying the Hughes charge along with footage of a similar incident last year in which Penrith’s Jarome Luai was charged for coming in contact with a match official.

Luai was only hit with a grade one offence for trying to push past sideline official Chris Sutton while celebrating a Panthers try against the Broncos.

Jahrome Hughes and referee Chris Butler.Credit: Getty

The higher grading of the charge means Hughes cannot accept a fine, though he could seek a downgrade at the judiciary on Tuesday night.

Hughes was scrambling to block Berry’s path to the tryline after Melbourne’s match-winner Xavier Coates had spilled a bomb.

Butler backed away from the play and into Hughes without realising the Storm star was behind him. Hughes then pushed Butler and the referee fell to the ground.

“He’s not even looking at the referee,” rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns told The Footy Show. “He’s bracing. I think he’s a bit hard done by.

“We need to protect the referees without a doubt, and especially at the junior level. But for me, that was an accident.”

Former international James Graham told Triple M: “Some incidents are completely unavoidable.”

A ban would rule Hughes out of the match against the Knights next Sunday night, while could also be suspended for the blockbuster against the Broncos if suspended for two games.

Melbourne has until noon on Monday to lodge Hughes’ plea with the NRL.

It could spark the second high profile judiciary case in a matter of weeks after Roosters prop Spencer Leniu was banned for eight matches for calling Brisbane’s Ezra Mam a “monkey” during the Las Vegas season-opening double-header.

It was the second major incident involving contact with a referee over the weekend with Sharks five-eighth Braydon Trindall crashing into referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski as he tried to stop Bulldogs back-rower Viliame Kikau from scoring at PointsBet Stadium.

The incident was ruled an accident and Kikau had the four-pointer chalked off by the bunker, who claimed Trindall was impeded from making a tackle on his rival.

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo bristled at the decision during his post match press conference, with Kikau almost certain to score given his sheer size advantage over Trindall close to the line.

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