NRL Round 9 judiciary news: Manly’s Tofofoa Sipley, Tiger Brent Naden slugged with lengthy bans

The NRL has come down hard on two incidents from the weekend, with Manly and Wests Tigers set to be forced into Magic Round reshuffles after the charge sheet was handed down.

Brent Naden is facing a four-game ban for the tackle which landed him in the sin-bin. Picture: Getty

Penrith hooker Soni Luke has escaped a ban for a hip-drop tackle on Wests Tigers forward Alex Twal, while Manly forward Toafofoa Sipley and Wests Tigers centre Brent Naden are facing lengthy suspensions after the match review committee handed out its charge sheet on Sunday.

Back-up rake Luke will be free to face the Warriors in Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday after being hit with a grade one charge which constitutes a $1000 fine with an early guilty plea.

Luke was placed on report for the tackle and sin binned at a crucial time with 12 minutes left on the clock in the Panthers’ shock loss to the Tigers.

Brent Naden is facing a four-game ban for the tackle which landed him in the sin-bin. Picture: Getty

Sipley is facing a three-to-four match ban for a crusher tackle on Phillip Sami in the Sea Eagles’ loss to Gold Coast while Naden is facing the same stint on the sideline for his shoulder charge on Penrith’s Zac Hosking in his side’s shock win over the premiers.

While Sipley is set for a holiday, teammate Haumole Olakau’atu can escape with a $3000 fine his crusher tackle Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, giving him the green light to line up against Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.

Meanwhile Dolphins forward Ray Stone is free to face Cronulla on Saturday night after he was fined for his dangerous throw on Canberra’s Albert Hopoate.

SEIBOLD DROPS TURBO RETURN HINT AS TITANS LEAVE MANLY REELING

By Matt Cleary

A young winger scored two tries and an old lady celebrated a 700th anniversary as Gold Coast Titans upset Manly Sea Eagles 26-10 at 4 Pines Park on Saturday night.

Following an afternoon downpour, Sea Eagles halfback Daly Cherry-Evans threw everything – passes, bombs and big Jason Saab — at Titans’ left winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira.

The livewire Lismore-born 21-year-old with Indigenous, Sri Lankan and Pakistani heritage held up under the aerial and physical bombardment, answering the challenge in good style by scoring his eighth try in eight NRL games.

It was soon followed by his ninth one – and his fourth double – when he plunged on a Brian Kelly grubber in the south-east corner.

In 2022 Khan-Pereira scored 25 tries in 19 games for Burleigh Bears. He did not appear over-awed in front of a raucous Brookvale hill or with Saab storming down upon him.

“It was awesome,” Khan-Pereira said.

Alofiana Khan-Pereira scores a try for the Titans. Picture: NRL Photos

“At the Titans they give us good training to overcome the pressure. I knew what was coming: Jason Saab, the height that he has. And Cherry-Evans’ kicks … It was awesome.

“I used to sit at home and watch them. Now I get to play against them. It’s something special.”

Titans coach Justin Holbrook said Khan-Pereira handled the Brookie hill mob well.

“It’s a tough place to come and play and he handled it really well. He’s only just starting his NRL career and there’s a lot of upside about him. So much to like.

“He’s a confident young man. It’s what you like in your younger players. And he plays that way.

“He’s so fast, so athletic, he’s a try-scorer. Lot of good traits.”

David Fifita led the way for the Titans. Picture: Getty Images

Best for the Titans was rampaging left edge backrower David Fifita who ran for 177 metres (58m post contact) and scored a try. He also posted a try-assist, a line-break and a line-break-assist.

Khan-Pereira was at Keebra Park High School with Fifita and admitted to being in awe.

“He looked like how he looked now, to be honest. He was an animal, man. I got frightened a couple of times, just seeing him in English, writing in books!” Khan-Pereira said.

Heavy rain 20 minutes before kick-off meant a crowd of 10,107 - presumably counting fans who’d elected to remain in the surrounding breweries and pubs – was on hand for the 700th game of rugby league played by Manly at Brookvale Park.

Since that first match in 1947 – that Manly lost 15-13 to Western Suburbs Magpies – the Sea Eagles have recorded 475 wins, a success rate of 68 per cent.

Manly players look on after a Titans try. Picture: NRL Photos

Against Gold Coast on Saturday night, however, with superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic and five-eighth Josh Schuster on the sidelines with injury, the home team lacked penetration while their defence leaked five tries.

Manly coach Anthony Seibold said “we were outplayed.”

“The Titans deserved to win. Talking to a few of the leaders, we had bright patches of the game. We started pretty well then gave a lot of penalties away.

“They’re a good set start team and they made us pay,” Seibold said.

Seibold said Schuster “will be a couple of weeks” while Trbojevic “is a chance” of suiting up against Brisbane Broncos on Friday night at Suncorp Stadium in Magic Round.

‘WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH’: PONGA RESPONDS AFTER KNIGHTS SHOCKER

By Martin Gabor

Kalyn Ponga says his poor performance against the Eels had nothing to do with his history of head knocks, vowing to get better after he missed five tackles in Newcastle’s 43-12 loss to Parramatta.

Ponga’s second game back from a series of clinical tests in Canada didn’t go well with the superstar caught out several times in defence, with Mitch Moses and Will Penisini enjoying plenty of luck down Parramatta’s right edge.

The five-eighth wasn’t the only one to struggle on Friday night, with the visitors missing a whopping 44 tackles, but he was far from his best with just six runs and nearly as many missed tackles.

“I’ve got to own my performance, I’m obviously disappointed with it,” he said.

Kalyn Ponga had a night to forget as Parramatta run riot against Newcastle. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s my second game back and it’s definitely a learning experience but I’m not going to let that performance eat me up. I’m going to look at it and learn from it.

“This move to six is why I want to be the best now. It’s a journey, it’s an experience and I want to be better, but I’ve got to own my performance. I wasn’t good enough.”

Ponga refused to blame the trip to Canada and the four head knocks in 10 months for his performance, which included a number of encouraging moments when he absorbed heavy contact in the early exchanges.

But he’s vowed to spend the week off during the bye to work on parts of his game as he gets used to defending in the front line.

“I think in terms of my head and the concussion side of things, I’m all right,” he said.

“We’ve got a break, but I’m probably going to work during the break because I want to be better than I was tonight. It’s not a head knock thing and it’s not that I’m not confident in my head, I just need to be better.”

HAIR-PULL DRAMA AS EEL GOES UNPUNISHED

Adam O’Brien joked two weeks ago that he’d advise all of his players to grow their hair to gain an advantage in case a defender decided to yank on the long locks after Tyson Frizell was penalised for an incident involving Jarome Luai.

The Knights coach may need to rethink that strategy after star winger Dom Young had his hair pulled by Maika Sivo only for the referee to blow for half-time as the Eels roared back to form with a 43-12 win at home.

All eyes will be on the charge sheet after Sivo bundled Young into touch on the stroke of half-time, but only after he grabbed the Englishman’s dreadlocks to stop him from racing away.

Frizell approached referee Chris Sutton as the players headed back to the sheds, incensed that the Knights were denied what should have been a clear penalty after he was pinged for a similar incident a fortnight ago.

“The one against Penrith was a pretty tough call,” Young said after the game.

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“If you look at it, mine was probably worse. He got me on the top of my head. We didn’t lose because of that, but I guess the referee missed that one.

“I guess it’s my fault for having long hair.

“I understand the point people are making (to tie up my hair) but I feel like he got me on the top of the head which is different to what Friz did because he grabbed him by the jersey first and then slipped down. That’s not what happened tonight.”

It was the closest the visitors got to making a break in a diabolical first 40 minutes that saw the Eels breach the front line 10 times to open up a commanding 30-6 lead.

The Knights have been competitive in all their games this season but it all fell apart at CommBank Stadium, with the visitors looking clueless in defence with Kalyn Ponga missing five tackles leading into next week’s bye.

Clint Gutherson celebrates with his Eels teammates after scoring a try. Picture: Getty Images

BLUE AND GOLD STANDARD

It’s taken two months but the Eels finally showed the sort of form that took them all the way to last year’s decider.

This was a relentless performance from a team desperate to make a statement without the injured Reagan Campbell-Gillard, and it was their big three who stole the show with Clint Gutherson, Mitch Moses and Dylan Brown doing all the damage.

The halves set the tone with their running game to cross for two early tries before it turned into the Gutherson show with the skipper crossing for three tries, including two very soft efforts out of dummy-half.

He could have had five if some of his teammates passed him the ball in support, with the halves combining for six line-breaks and two try assists as they feasted on some very weak defence on the edges.

After a shaky start to the year against some of the league’s top teams, the Eels should end up with a winning record in the coming weeks with winnable games against the Titans and Raiders on the horizon.

“When our middles are running like that, it makes it easier for us and we can do those things,” Gutherson said.

BACK ON CLOUD NINE

There were genuine fears that Josh Hodgson was going to lose his starting spot if Parramatta’s attacking woes continued, but the Englishman had his best night in a blue and gold jersey to keep the detractors at bay.

Hodgson headed into Friday night with just one try assist and coming off a game in Darwin where he played just 31 minutes before Brendan Hands finished off the contest.

But he set up two tries inside the opening 10 minutes with crisp service to Brown and Moses to get the hosts off to a flying start before he returned for a second stint.

Kurt Mann didn’t return for the second half after picking up an injury. Picture: Getty Images

MANN OH MANN

There was mixed messaging out of the Knights dressing room after Kurt Mann was shown alone in the sheds as the rest of his teammates came back on for the second half.

It was originally reported that the utility was fit and had been hooked after missing five tackles in the first half, but it was later clarified that Mann had suffered an abdominal injury.

“I quickly met with him, and it’s something around the hip-flexor, but it has gone pretty deep into the abdominal area,” O’Brien said.

“It was really early on because he’s a really solid defender, but he was a little loose around the middle. I knew something wasn’t right.”

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Originally published as NRL Round 9 judiciary news: Manly’s Tofofoa Sipley, Tiger Brent Naden slugged with lengthy bans