Manly forward Addin Fonua-Blake facing ban for slur aimed at ref
Manly forward Addin Fonua-Blake is facing a ban after calling referee Grant Atkins a “f...king retard” in the dying stages of his side’s loss to Newcastle.
Manly forward Addin Fonua-Blake sought out referee Grant Atkins in the bowels of Lottoland and apologised for calling him a “f..king retard” as the Sea Eagles’ return to their spiritual home climaxed in controversy on Sunday.
Fonua-Blake is likely to face a contrary conduct charge when the match review committee meets on Monday morning, a stint on the sidelines seemingly inevitable after he lost his cool immediately following the full-time siren.
Manly players raced in to confront Atkins after video referee Jared Maxwell cleared Bradman Best and Tex Hoy of interfering with Tevita Funa as he chased the ball with the game on the line.
As Sea Eagles skipper Daly Cherry-Evans and forward Jake Trbojevic went looking for answers, Fonua-Blake exploded with rage. Atkins, understandably, wasn’t happy.
He had no hesitation sending Fonua-Blake from the field as Newcastle’s gutsy 14-12 win was overshadowed by minutes of mayhem after the siren sounded.
“Obviously he sent Addin off so we need to have a look at that,” Manly coach Des Hasler said.
“From Addin‘s point of view there was emotion, frustration but you have to contain that. We will have to wait and see what the charge is and what the fallout is.”
A grade-one contrary conduct charge attracts a fine but a grade two could result in Fonua-Blake being suspended. The matter may even be referred straight to the judiciary should the match review committee deem it a serious enough offence.
The Manly prop apologised after the game.
“Referees have a very tough job and we all need to respect their decisions even when we may not agree with them,’’ Fonua-Blake said. “I should not have let my emotions get the better of me and I am very sorry for the comments I made.
“I’d also like to offer my sincere apology to anyone offended by the regrettable language that I used. I let myself and my club down. That is not who I am or what this club stands for.”
The drama at the end of the game took the gloss off a resilient win from the Knights, who lost winger Edrick Lee early in the first half with a broken wrist and back rower Sione Mata’utia to concussion in the second half.
Fullback Kalyn Ponga, who had a quiet day by his own lofty standards, was also forced from the field for a head injury assessment with 11 minutes to go, meaning Newcastle were forced to play the closing stages with only one player on the interchange bench.
For a time that player was Herman Ese’ese, who had been forced from the field himself at one point to have his knee heavily strapped.
Despite the casualty ward, the Knights held on for a gritty victory, giving coach Adam O’Brien exactly what he was looking for after their capitulation a week ago against North Queensland.
“I was really proud of our effort and defence on the tryline,” O’Brien said.
“I haven’t had a really close look at the end — I was getting my breath back. Real gutsy. We spoke about that during the week. I just wanted us to be gutsy.
“I didn’t care if we won — I wanted us to get back to being the gritty and tough side we set out to be at the start go the year.
“I thought there was some real grit there to defend our tryline. Some of it was ugly but we still found a way to stop tries.”
The Knights made a solid start before a crowd of just over 2000 at Lottoland and they were rewarded in the 14th minute when hooker Andrew McCullough forced his way over.
Cherry-Evans led the Manly fightback when he scored midway through the opening half but the Knights took a decisive lead into halftime when they scored 40 seconds before the break thanks to a smart kick by Mitchell Pearce and some sure hands from Kurt Mann.
The Sea Eagles dominated possession in the second half and they ended within two points when Cade Cust came off the interchange bench and scored.
That try set up a thrilling finish and Manly thought they had hit the front with 12 minutes remaining when Ponga dropped a bomb and Danny Levi looked to have scored. Maxwell thought otherwise, ruling Levi had knocked the ball on. It wasn’t the last time Maxwell would frustrate Sea Eagles players and supporters.
As the siren sounded, all hell broke loose and Maxwell had the decisive say, although Atkins found himself in the crosshairs.
Hasler indicated he would speak to head of football Graham Annesley about the decision not to award his side a penalty for the contact with Funa.
As for Fonua-Blake, there will be more questions asked of the Sea Eagles front rower. He is a player they can scarcely afford to lose given that resources are thin.
Already they are without Tom Trbojevic and Dylan Walker through injury. The last thing they need is to lose one of their best forwards.
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