The South Sydney Rabbitohs are shocked by the grade four dangerous contact charge handed down to player Greg Inglis by the NRL Match Review Committee, and have spoken out about the statements made by the opposition Coach in the post-match press conference and the prejudicial nature of those statements.
The Rabbitohs and Inglis have until Tuesday afternoon to submit their plea following the charge, but Rabbitohs Head Coach Michael Maguire believes that inflammatory comments by Steve Price to the media have played a role in the unusually high grading of the charge.
“Steve Price’s comments have exacerbated this situation resulting in a high grading for this incident,” Coach Maguire said.
“He came out and compared this tackle to one where his player was charged earlier in the year, where he raised his elbow and struck an opposition player square in the face.
“To compare these two incidents is ridiculous to say the least, and to do so can only be designed to be inflammatory and to try and prejudice the case before it reaches the match review committee.
“We operated within the rules of the NRL. The Dragons didn’t.
“It is against the NRL Rules to comment on any matter that is subject to review by the Match Review Committee or the Judiciary, and Steve Price’s comments have incited a media frenzy around this incident.
“His comments have exacerbated this situation, and if this isn’t a clear case of trying to prejudice a case against a player then I don’t know what is.
“We want to know what the ARLC is going to do about his comments, which were made two days ago, which are clearly against the rules, as it is harmful to the game and reputation of our player and our Club.
It’s bad for the game, yet despite several conversations with the ARLC by myself and the CEO since Saturday’s game, nothing has been done about it.
“It’s not good enough.”
Rabbitohs CEO Shane Richardson agrees with his Head Coach’s comments saying a clear line needs to be drawn.
“It clearly states in the NRL Code of Conduct, section 30, sub-sections (1) and (2) under the heading of ‘Public Comment’, that no one shall comment on any subject of a proceeding before the Match Review Committee,” Mr Richardson said.
“The tackle was put on report, and was therefore going to be reviewed by the Match Review Committee.
“We did the right thing and made no adverse comments on the situation, but Steve Price did, and he’s broken the rules.
“The ARLC should be doing something about this, and as yet nothing has been done. It needs to be acted upon, and it needed to happen yesterday.”
