- Kyle Flanagan has been found guilty of biting an opponent
- The Dragons star denied biting Stephen Crichton last week
- He received a severe ban after the incident.
Kyle Flanagan has been found guilty of biting Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton’s nose, with the NRL judiciary dealing a major blow to St George Illawarra’s finals hopes.
On Tuesday night, after a marathon 95-minute hearing, Flanagan was informed of his fate, and the panel must now determine the length of his suspension on the dangerous contact charge.
He has been suspended for four games, meaning he will not be able to participate in the remainder of the regular season.
Flanagan repeatedly maintained during the hearing that he “definitely did not bite Stephen Crichton,” although he also claimed he did not know he had a nose in his mouth.
The Dragons five-eighth was, however, adamant that he was the initial victim of the incident, feeling pressured by the Bulldogs defenders and with Crichton poked in the eye by the nose.
“Crichton moved his head forward to smother my face with a suffocating sensation,” Flanagan told the panel.
‘I felt trapped and boxed in. I felt like I had nowhere else to go and so I used a crocodile technique to roll and play the ball for my team.’
Flanagan also claimed that his eyes were closed at the time of the incident and that his mouth was partially closed involuntarily.
The NRL has found Kyle Flanagan guilty of biting an opponent
Flanagan denied biting Stephen Crichton’s nose during the Dragons game at the weekend
“I partially closed my jaw. I did not bite Stephen Crichton,” Flanagan said.
“I did not cause those injuries.”
Her lawyer, James McLeod, argued that Crichton had caused the cuts to her nose when he brushed it against Flanagan’s teeth as he tried to pull her out of his mouth.
But the panel of Henry Perenara and Greg McCallum sided with NRL lawyer Lachlan Gyles, who suggested Flanagan had been responsible for putting Crichton’s nose inside his mouth.
“At one point when Crichton’s head was moving upward, his nose was held back and compressed into his mouth and then released,” Gyles said.
‘Crichton is putting pressure on your face and acting aggressively towards you, in a way that you don’t like.
“The reason his nose went into your mouth was because you moved your head to the left. It was your movement that put his nose in your mouth.
‘You clenched your jaw, so what was between your bottom teeth and the mouthguard was Stephen Crichton’s nose.’
The verdict came despite Crichton failing to appear at the hearing, prompting a sharp rebuke from McLeod.
“It’s extraordinary and something to be taken into account,” McLeod said.
He has received a four-game suspension, meaning he will miss the remainder of the regular season.
“Where there is inconclusive footage available and there is a complete absence of evidence from the complainant where it is clear that he is able to give some insight into what has occurred, then it is a matter which highlights the lack of supporting evidence that would be required for this charge.”
Flanagan’s father and Dragons coach Shane was not in attendance, with Kyle flanked by St George Illawarra chief executive Ryan Webb and head of football Ben Haran.
The Saints must now find another five-eighth to try and take them to the finals, with Jack Bird named on the bench to face Gold Coast on Sunday.
Sitting ninth in the NRL standings, the Dragons have just one more game against a team ranked above them this season.
