- Nelson Asofa-Solomona to miss NRL grand final
- The forward faced a five-match ban for a high shot
- He flew to Sydney on Monday to appear before an NRL panel.
Melbourne enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona will miss Sunday’s NRL Grand Final after his grade three tackle position was confirmed by a disciplinary hearing on Monday.
The NRL panel unanimously confirmed the five-match ban, with the 28-year-old also expected to miss New Zealand’s Pacific Championship matches against the Kangaroos and Tonga, and is unlikely to play again until Round 2 of the next season.
On Saturday, NRL officials informed the prop forward he was facing a five-match suspension after he was sent to the sin-bin following a high shot that knocked out Sydney Roosters forward Lindsay Collins during the finals win. Storm preliminary 48-18 on Friday.
There was a chance the 28-year-old could have played against Penrith this Sunday, and Storm confirmed they were seeking to persuade the judicial panel to reduce his charge to a first-degree penalty and a $3,000 fine.
Asofa-Solomona flew to Sydney for the hearing and appeared alongside her lawyer, Nick Ghabar, after the defense managed to expedite the hearing from its usual Tuesday afternoon slot to Monday.
Asofa-Solomona’s lawyer made the comparison to Val Holmes’ hit on Payne Haas during this year’s second Origin clash. The Maroons star’s entry was considered a first-degree charge but the NRL’s lawyer ruled out a comparison could be made.
NRL lawyer Lachlan Gyles argued Haas had gotten along and continued playing.
Gyles had called Dr Matthew Morgan to the hearing and stated that Roosters prop Collins had shown signs of concussion after the tackle, but was unable to reveal the symptoms due to doctor-patient confidentiality.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona arrived at an NRL tribunal today following his high tackle on Roosters forward Lindsay Collins.
The Melbourne star had been charged with a grade three trespassing charge and his ban was upheld, with the Storm prop now set to miss the next five games, including the Grand Final.
Asofa-Solomona (left) had made contact with Collins’ head during their preliminary final match on Friday.
He added that he had not included in his post-match report that there was a “definitive fact when he plays the ball backwards, disorientation, is what I’m trying to get at.”
Gyles also said Collins had played the ball incorrectly and needed help to stay upright. The NRL had also claimed that a guilty plea was an admission of foul play.
Asofa-Solomona’s lawyer, Ghabar, argued there were four reasons why the charges should be reduced.
While admitting there was “no doubt the tackle was high”, he claimed the defender was ready to wrap both arms, the contact was frontal, that the Storm prop had not run off the line and that he had never abandoned the ground. He argued that the combination of these factors meant that the entry was at the “lower end of the carelessness range.”
Asofa-Solomona’s attorney had argued to try to reduce his penalty to a first-degree violation.
NRL representatives argued that Collins (left) had suffered concussion symptoms.
The defense also argued that the speed at which Collins moved gave the Storm prop little time to adjust his body position and get lower into the tackle.
“If the Asofa-Solomona player turned his back, he ran the risk of colliding with the Katoa player or the Collins player,” Ghabar said. ‘The player Collins did not raise his bumpers to protect himself.
‘In terms of force generation, the player Collins, according to my respectful submission, was responsible for it. “The player Collins was coming at high speed and did not take measures to protect himself, which is unfortunate.”