Ponga

[Madge]

@Newtown he is fine, was in hospital as a precaution but nothing serious. All is well and good.

 

[Telltails]

Definitely played the man and right decision to send him to the bin. Happy to leave it at that.

 

[Tim Sheens]

To say Ponga’s shoulder was deliberate might be one of the most bias comments I have ever read in my 8 years on the forum. You’d be blowing up delexue if Thompson had gone to the bin for that.

Watching it unfold in real time alone it was quite obviously a deliberate play on MCK and I was immediately blowing up at the box as he fell to the ground, with no need for a replay to be certain of intent of playing the man rather than the ball, which was way out of reach.

Whether the intent to harm or not was there is debatable, though it reminded me of the boot to the head antics of Slater, disguised as poor timing.

 

[eyewondertwo]

great talent and seems like a nice young man.
will begin to realise that it is not all beer and skittles playing in the n.r.l.

 

[TieDye]

Not the attempted body-check, no, he did not intend to hurt Cheeks as evidenced by his reaction. The dangerous contact is being stamped out however, and, he was way out of line in bracing his shoulder that late to somebody clearly diving toward a ball also clearly marked and jockey’d by MOGA right behind him (the main source of collision IMO).

If Ponga played the ball or even watched it trickle nearly dead, he would’ve been able to take evasive action and go on with batting the ball dead... there was not for one second enough of an attempt to take duty of care for his fellow player and sadly... regardless of how accidental/poorly timed it was, we lost a player (possibly for this week too) due to a very poor technique and lack of professionalism in avoiding his elbow making contact with MCK’s temple (in the frame by frame picture it is as clear as day).

Is definitely worthy of a suspension going off the precedent however they’ve confused us all in recent weeks on how a fullback is allowed to come in and influence a late play like that - we do not want another Billy Slater just continually getting away with it because people said he’s well educated and anybody complaining about it was bias against the storm. I will say Kalyn is a decent man and probably, on previous form doesn’t deserve to be suspended however the idiot already admitted guilt in his interview post-game that it was dangerous, he also seemed to believe he was above any potential consequences.

If we have any spine in the backbone of the Match review Committee then I’m hoping for the ‘deliberate’ act that turned into an extremely dangerous tackle, he misses the next four weeks including the return game against us.

 

[Don Kershane]

@pawsandclaws1 Maybe, but the lure of the big wide world will prove irresistible as it is for most people of his age. The attraction of the beach may be enough for say 18-20 year olds but won't be enough for him -especially with loaded pockets. North Queensland---- Newcastle------ ?. I can see a Sonny Bill type progression but hope I am wrong.

 

[larry2005]

it wasn't deliberate it was instinctive....realised he wasnt going to get the ball so propected himself against the collision. Shoulder impacted the head....penalty the sin bin is neither here nor there, effectively game was over at that point. Lets see what match review committee do.

 

[TieDye]

@larry2005 exactly, and still illegal... like saying to the officer you just saw somebody else speed. He has to receive at least 1 game, as a reminder to be much more careful next time. Doubt it

 

[cqtiger]

No charge laid against Ponga

 

[TieDye]

@cqtiger lol there we go

 

[TieDye]

Order is restored and back in balance

 

[TheDaBoss]

A lot of my mates agree that it was a definite penalty

But they said sinbin was a bit harsh


Me myself, im just glad we finally r getting those types of calls OUR way

 

[The_Patriot]

So it's ok for your shoulder to make contact with another players head. As long as you knock them out cold yeah?

 

[TieDye]

@The_Patriot disgraceful. Amiright!?

 

[Tweed_Tiger]

Fair penalty Billy Slater got away with it for years but now hes gone multiple fullbacks have been penalized for it.


 

[pawsandclaws1]

It may have been unintentional but contact with the head using the shoulder is not on. He is not a dirty player and I'm sure his motivation was defence not to injure MCK. The penalty was fair.

 

[GNR4LIFE]

It may have been unintentional but contact with the head using the shoulder is not on. He is not a dirty player and I'm sure his motivation was defence not to injure MCK. The penalty was fair.

That’s fair enough to argue it was a penalty. But to call him a grub and claim he deserves a suspension is a bit melodramatic.

 

[TieDye]

Penalty all day, every day
Watch one of our players get suspended the next time it happens however, while still being penalised for phantom shoulder charges against our halfback.. the issue everybody has, I think, being able to gauge most comments pretty well is that there is no consistency and if you want to continue with the body-checking nonsense (was never ever getting to the ball) then you don’t outlaw heavy shoulder contact and the reason that is in place is ‘duty of care’, which neither player nor NRL shows in this instance. It will be their asses and players’ brains not us, so the fact that it secured the win was incidental... shouldn’t have come to that and ugly incidents like this are deservedly being removed from the game. Ponga = protected species whether you agree or disagree lol

 

[innsaneink]

No charge... Plays next week

 

[hobbo1]

Penalty all day, every day
Watch one of our players get suspended the next time it happens however, while still being penalised for phantom shoulder charges against our halfback.. the issue everybody has, I think, being able to gauge most comments pretty well is that there is no consistency and if you want to continue with the body-checking nonsense (was never ever getting to the ball) then you don’t outlaw heavy shoulder contact and the reason that is in place is ‘duty of care’, which neither player nor NRL shows in this instance. It will be their asses and players’ brains not us, so the fact that it secured the win was incidental... shouldn’t have come to that and ugly incidents like this are deservedly being removed from the game. Ponga = protected species whether you agree or disagree lol

I called him a grub and stand by my comment !
Ponga = Koala Bear