Bite or No Bite - that is the question

[myrrh ken]

In these days of COVID-19, and the way we suspect the virus is transmitted, why would you be so stupid to put any part of your hand into another player's mouth?

I'm not condoning Proctor though. Biting has no place on the football field.

Hand?

 

[Frailty]

Look at him.. He is being choked so tight here Proctor decided to pull on his shorts to bring him in closer - because that's how you react when you're being choked - pull the choker in closer.

Even that gap between arm and mouth, despite being able to see it, clearly couldn't have any airflow. Proctor only had one choice - to bite him (but he didn't bite him remember).

 

[no name]

Are you saying that no one in the history of Rugby League at any level has ever been sent off for biting? I’d find that hard to believe

Well the refs were shown bite marks on Slater and Tahu and the accused were never sent off.

 

[Tiger Shark]

What is Gould talking about - Johnson doesn't react? Yes he does, he doesn't pull away instantly because it probably didn't hurt that much but he still defn reacted.

Your reaction to something is proportionate to how much it hurt.

 

[The_Frog]

Johnson's arm showing marks.

If it was a fair dinkum bite the marks would be very pronounced and there'd be blood. It seems like it was more a suck.

Yes he does, he doesn't pull away instantly because it probably didn't hurt that much but he still defn reacted.

If it didn't hurt much it can't have been much of a bite.

It was a tight game. The Sharks were in danger of losing which would have been disastrous for their finals chances. I suspect Johnson was milking it a tad.

 

[Frailty]

Lol it wasn't a bite, Proctor just gave him a hickey! You should join Proctor's defence team.

 

[myrrh ken]

If it was a fair dinkum bite the marks would be very pronounced and there'd be blood. It seems like it was more a suck.

If it didn't hurt much it can't have been much of a bite.

It was a tight game. The Sharks were in danger of losing which would have been disastrous for their finals chances. I suspect Johnson was milking it a tad.

Haha "a suck". That's up there with Mal's "he was fighting to save his life."

You can't draw blood when you're got a mouth guard in. It was no James Graham but a chomp is a chomp. It was enough to shock SJ and for him to take issue with it.

I don't think SJ was the one appealing to the ref to stop play. And at the time he says he doesn't want the penalty.

 

[Dragon Slayer]

It was a tight game. The Sharks were in danger of losing which would have been disastrous for their finals chances. I suspect Johnson was milking it a tad.

Amazing milking.

How did he force his mouth open and shut not once but twice!!

He’s f**king good!

 

[Dragon Slayer]

Rumour has it Proctor will have at his hearing high profile bite expert Mr J. Hayne to support his case and Dr. Meninga who states it was clear he was fighting for his life to fend off the brutal strength of Sharks halfback Shaun Johnson.

 

[hrundi99]

I think it's largely an auto-response to having something forced in/across your mouth.

It's pretty natural to want to do something to make the arm move away. His head/neck were at an awkward angle.

It still technically looks like a bite but i don't think he was going out of his way to just bite him. He should get a few weeks because a bite is a bite.

 

[Perth Red]

3 weeks sufficient Id say. It was reactive to having SJ's arm stuck in his face rather than a deliberate biting act.

 

[Frailty]

It's such a natural reaction to having an arm there that in the over 100 year history, biting is a pretty rare event, despite arms being in that position frequently (especially ironic given Proctor coming into grade at Melbourne).

It was opportunist act rather than searching to bite like Graham in 2012 - I will give you that. But it was a bite.

 

[The_Frog]

3 weeks sufficient Id say. It was reactive to having SJ's arm stuck in his face rather than a deliberate biting act.

If it wasn't a deliberate biting act it should be 0 weeks.

 

[cb4]

Shouldn't have been a send off IMO. If Hetherington wasn't sent off in our game v Manly, no way Procter should have been. I know biting is a special category, but it just wasn't all that conclusive. As Gould said, Johnson's lack of reaction shows that if it was a bite, it was an extremely poor attempt at one.

Johsnons lack of reaction? Mate watch the video again.
He yells out twice when he is bitten, then gets up straight away and yells to Perenara he has been bitten.
He then, proceeds to show Perenara his arm, he also shows it to Proctor and Fotuaika his arm before calling Proctor a f**king sook.
If that isn't a reaction, what is it?

 

[Meth]

Johsnons lack of reaction? Mate watch the video again.
He yells out twice when he is bitten, then gets up straight away and yells to Perenara he has been bitten.
He then, proceeds to show Perenara his arm, he also shows it to Proctor and Fotuaika his arm before calling Proctor a f**king sook.
If that isn't a reaction, what is it?

Fair enough. To be honest, I haven't watched the whole thing. I have just seen the incident about 1 thousand times and then the images of Johnson being spoken to and Proctor being sent off.

 

[myrrh ken]

If it wasn't a deliberate biting act it should be 0 weeks.

I think most people would be happy if it was minimal punishment.
Zero to two weeks. Send off was punishment enough.

 

[Perth Red]

If it wasn't a deliberate biting act it should be 0 weeks.

NAh, instinctive biting still deserves punishment. Like difference between a lazy arm or a clothes line head high tackle.

 

[Frailty]

I think most people would be happy if it was minimal punishment.
Zero to two weeks. Send off was punishment enough.

Nope. Biting has zero place in the game.

It's all good comparing a lazy high tackle to a clothesline tackle - but tackling is part of the game. Biting is simply not.

It is not instinctual to bite a player - if it were it would happen in almost every game but it doesn't. There was nothing unusual about Johnson's tackle that doesn't happen in every NRL game.

 

[blocka]

Not supposed to tackle around the head. If Johnson’s arm wasn’t in his face we wouldn’t be talking about biting.
There seems to be more and more head high tackles let go and in stark contrast when you flick over to union and anything above the shoulders is a 10 minute sit down

 

[Captain Apollo]

Hand?

I probably should have said "hand or arm". My bad