Full readout from the NRL live blog on Radley's case: https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/04/20/live-nrl-judiciary---mitchell-radley-momirovski-plead-cases/
9.28pm: Verdict. Radley has been successful in getting the careless high tackle charge downgraded to a grade one. A $1900 fine is his penalty.
Radley flashed a big grin and gave a thumbs-up on his way out of Rugby League Central but declined to speak to the media.
8.50pm: Judiciary chairman Geoff Bellew gives his instructions, recaps the submissions from both lawyers and the panel is now deliberating.
8.40pm: Watching the video of Rapana’s grade one careless high tackle from last year, Radley’s counsel James McLeod argues the Raider “has done more wrong” than Radley and is “at least the same level of blameworthiness”. He says Rapana struck Daniel Alvaro with greater force and his “execution was poorer”.
McLeod believes it’s “telling” that opposing counsel McGrath has opted to show examples of grade one offences instead of grade two.
He submits there are no characteristics of a grade two offence in Radley’s tackle, saying it lacked the necessary force, flush contact and culpability.
On the Latrell Mitchell example, McLeod says the Souths star was in a better position to effect a tackle than Radley and he then elevated himself off the ground - unlike Radley - to hit Garner.
8.25pm: McLeod is now giving his submission. He accepts Radley was “clumsy” and it “wasn’t a good tackle” but argues there was only low force.
“It’s not a forearm, it’s not a stiff-arm, it’s not a clenched fist as my friend suggested - it’s a grabbing action,” McLeod says.
He posits that the photo referenced earlier by McGrath was not taken at the point of first impact and says there was merely “incidental glancing contact” rather than a “flush” blow.
“[Radley’s] wrongdoing is limited to someone who got out of position threw out an arm, tried to grab the ball-carrier and got it slightly wrong,” he says.
8.20pm: Two grade-one careless high tackles from last year - one by Raiders winger Jordan Rapana and the other by Rabbitohs fullback Latrell Mitchell - are being used as comparable examples to Radley’s offence.
NRL counsel Peter McGrath says that Rapana’s tackle on Eels prop Daniel Alvaro wasn’t as bad as Radley’s because of the degree of force and the initial point of contact was with the shoulder.
“It was certainly high but hasn’t come with the distance or the acceleration [like Radley],” McGrath says. Mitchell’s tackle on Wests Tigers forward Luke Garner, meanwhile, had also an initial impact with the shoulder in McGrath’s view.
8pm: McGrath submits that it was “plain to see that player Radley was wrong-footed” by Munster and then carelessly “threw out” his left arm into the Storm star’s head.
The fact that Radley’s feet left the ground after impact was evidence of his “lack of control in those circumstances”, according to McGrath.
Munster was interchanged and returned to the field within a minute, so McGrath says there is “no suggestion of any injury actually being caused”, but he contends there was a significant risk.
He points to a photo that shows Radley contacting Munster’s head with “what appears to be a clenched fist”, though he does not suggest it was a swinging arm.
The speed with which the Tricolours forward came off the defensive line contributed the majority of the force to the tackle, he adds.
7.40: Roosters lock Victor Radley, represented by James McLeod and with Mitch Aubusson there in support, has sat down for his hearing. He is seeking a downgrade of a grade-two careless high tackle on Storm five-eighth Cameron Munster in last Friday’s clash.
Radley was sin-binned for the act. He has been named to face St George Illawarra on Anzac Day but is risking a three-match ban with prior offences taken into account.
