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NRL Match Review & Judiciary Charges: Grand Final Day » League Unlimited
NRL won’t close loophole as JWH firms for sensational round one return
By Christian Nicolussi
October 14, 2023 — 6.00pm
The NRL won’t close the loophole that allows players to include Test matches as part of an NRL suspension as Jared Waerea-Hargreaves looks set to be available for the Sydney Roosters in round one of the 2024 season.
Waerea-Hargreaves missed the Roosters’ finals campaign after being banned for seven matches due to two separate offences in a spiteful round-26 clash with Wests Tigers, but is firming to be available for the club’s Las Vegas season opener due to the loopholes in the system.
The 34-year-old was named in New Zealand’s Pacific Championships squad despite having four weeks of his ban to serve and having no chance of playing in the tournament. Even if he had been available, JWH would have been on the fringes of the Kiwi Test team, given the presence of Penrith premiership pair James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota, as well as Storm star Nelson Asofa-Solomona and Canberra’s back-to-back best and fairest winner Joe Tapine.
Waerea-Hargreaves has served three games of his ban after the Roosters reached week two of the finals, and another three matches are expected to be wiped off if the Kiwis make it to the Pacific Championships final. The Roosters are also expected to ask NRL judiciary chairman Geoff Bellew to include the New Zealand Maori All-Stars fixture as part of the ban, which would leave Waerea-Hargreaves free to play in round one next year.
Canberra’s Sebastian Kris was also set to be picked for New Zealand, and has already been informed he has had two Tests wiped off his five-match NRL ban. The Raiders have been told Bellew will weigh up whether to include a third Test should New Zealand progress to the Pacific Championships final.
Waerea-Hargreaves’ request is yet to be officially lodged, but New Zealand officials expect it to be a formality given the verdict on Kris.
NRL fans have asked in the past how a player can be picked for a Test when already suspended and clearly unavailable to play. What makes the case of Waerea-Hargreaves even more interesting is he would have been well down the Kiwis’ front-row pecking order and no guarantee to feature against Australia or Samoa in the Pacific Championships.
New Zealand Rugby League chief executive Greg Peters can understand why fans are angry about the loophole, but insisted Waerea-Hargreaves and Kris would have made their 20-man squad.
“We wrote a letter for Jared and Sebastian to say they would have been selected for the Kiwis had they not been suspended – both of those players would have played a big part in our campaign,” Peters said. “It’s an interesting rule. It has to be genuine, that’s the biggest test.
“Had we not taken Jared to the World Cup last year, then wanted to pick him now, the NRL would have questioned that. But that’s not the case here.
“I don’t think an NRL ban has to be [entirely] served in the NRL. If you think of it the other way, what if a player does something in a Test match, gets banned for six weeks, and you can only serve that suspension for international games. It would basically take two years to serve because we only play three Tests a year. That rule doesn’t work either.”
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said the controversial rule would remain, and the governing body would rely on nations being honest when it came to selecting suspended players.
“I don’t think an NRL ban has to be [entirely] served in the NRL. If you think of it the other way, what if a player does something in a Test match, gets banned for six weeks, and you can only serve that suspension for international games. It would basically take two years to serve because we only play three Tests a year. That rule doesn’t work either.”
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said the controversial rule would remain, and the governing body would rely on nations being honest when it came to selecting suspended players.
