PENRITH star Dallin Watene-Zelezniak has vowed to continue volunteering at junior rugby league games despite being physically attacked while serving as a touch judge.
Watene-Zelezniak on Monday admitted being shaken by the incident that resulted in a St Marys official being handed a lifetime ban for grabbing the Panthers winger by the throat.
But he insisted it wouldn’t deter him and said it gave him even more respect for NRL refs and touch judges.
“It’s going to take a lot more than that for me to stop helping out the junior league and me remembering where I came from,” Watene-Zelezniak said.
“He had a bad day. Everyone’s had a bad day. I’ve had some bad days. It’s just unlucky that I had to be that trigger on that day for him.”
Watene-Zelezniak was helping out his junior club St Clair before playing for the Panthers later that day.
“My game ritual is in the morning of a game, I like to forget about myself and do something for someone else. It puts me in a good mindframe for the game,” he said.
“I wasn’t going down there to be the touch judge, it’s just that no one wanted to do it and I just fit in there. I thought that was my thing I could do.”
The 21-year-old New Zealand international said the experience made him think about NRL match officials, who have come under heavy verbal fire from coaches in the past two weeks.
“I came off the field and I was like, if that can happen in under-12s, imagine what the NRL referees and touch judges get,” he said.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for them, without them the game can’t function. My hat’s off to them.”
The 21-year-old credited his religious beliefs for helping him quickly forgive his attacker, and he even apologised to the man for the backlash he’s copped.
“What kind of guy would I be if I couldn’t forgive anyone? I’d be depressed every day, I’d be angry. It’s harder to hate someone than it is to forgive them,” he said.
“Obviously someone grabs you by the throat, you want to do something about it. But the way I’ve grown up with my beliefs, it was a no-brainer.
“I did speak to a few people from the St Marys club and he was apologetic to me.
“To him, I’m very sorry for the way it’s come out in the media and the way he’s been put down by people. If I can forgive him, then everyone else can forgive him.”
