redemption
New member
from today's SMH by Chris Barrett & Glenn Jackson
WESTS Tigers back-rower Simon Dwyer will today come under scrutiny for his controversial hit on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - and he has received some unlikely support in the form of the man who was knocked out by his challenge.
Despite claims the tackle should have been penalised, which would likely have won the match for the Roosters before the epic encounter went into golden-point extra time, Waerea-Hargreaves described it simply as a ''good hit''.
Waerea-Hargreaves needed 10 staples in his chin from an earlier incident, not the 80th-minute Dwyer hit. The back-rower was concussed by Dwyer's contact, and played no further role in the game.
He later said the tackle was legal. ''I was filthy when they took me off but they said, 'You couldn't even hold a sentence together','' Waerea-Hargreaves said yesterday. ''I thought it was a clean, legit tackle. Hats off to him - he got me a beauty.
''All my roommates were telling me, 'That's the biggest hit of the year'. I was going, 'Don't tell me that'.''
Still, the NRL match review committee will scrutinise the tackle, which led to the scrum which the Roosters won against the head in the dying seconds of regulation time. There have been suggestions Dwyer could be handed a grade-two high-tackle charge, which could add to the Tigers' list of unavailable players.
Second-rower Gareth Ellis also faces a suspension after being placed on report for a high tackle on Roosters five-eighth Todd Carney.
The Dwyer hit, though, is likely to be of most interest. It might place the NRL in a precarious position, too. If the match review committee sees fit to charge him, the referees group will be further embarrassed - video referee Steve Clark ruled for a scrum despite reviewing replays of the incident.
Dwyer's shoulder appeared to make contact with Waerea-Hargreaves's chin, although there were claims the Roosters player was falling. While not even a grade-two would automatically lead to a suspension, that the tackle was serious enough to be awarded a grading will be proof that Dwyer should have been penalised - giving the Roosters a win they subsequently claimed anyway, but without the fatigue of a 20-minute period of extra time.
That extra match time could hamper both teams, who will both have to back up this weekend.
The Tigers have been pitted against the in-form Raiders in Canberra on Friday night, while the Roosters will play Penrith on Saturday at the SFS.
WESTS Tigers back-rower Simon Dwyer will today come under scrutiny for his controversial hit on Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - and he has received some unlikely support in the form of the man who was knocked out by his challenge.
Despite claims the tackle should have been penalised, which would likely have won the match for the Roosters before the epic encounter went into golden-point extra time, Waerea-Hargreaves described it simply as a ''good hit''.
Waerea-Hargreaves needed 10 staples in his chin from an earlier incident, not the 80th-minute Dwyer hit. The back-rower was concussed by Dwyer's contact, and played no further role in the game.
He later said the tackle was legal. ''I was filthy when they took me off but they said, 'You couldn't even hold a sentence together','' Waerea-Hargreaves said yesterday. ''I thought it was a clean, legit tackle. Hats off to him - he got me a beauty.
''All my roommates were telling me, 'That's the biggest hit of the year'. I was going, 'Don't tell me that'.''
Still, the NRL match review committee will scrutinise the tackle, which led to the scrum which the Roosters won against the head in the dying seconds of regulation time. There have been suggestions Dwyer could be handed a grade-two high-tackle charge, which could add to the Tigers' list of unavailable players.
Second-rower Gareth Ellis also faces a suspension after being placed on report for a high tackle on Roosters five-eighth Todd Carney.
The Dwyer hit, though, is likely to be of most interest. It might place the NRL in a precarious position, too. If the match review committee sees fit to charge him, the referees group will be further embarrassed - video referee Steve Clark ruled for a scrum despite reviewing replays of the incident.
Dwyer's shoulder appeared to make contact with Waerea-Hargreaves's chin, although there were claims the Roosters player was falling. While not even a grade-two would automatically lead to a suspension, that the tackle was serious enough to be awarded a grading will be proof that Dwyer should have been penalised - giving the Roosters a win they subsequently claimed anyway, but without the fatigue of a 20-minute period of extra time.
That extra match time could hamper both teams, who will both have to back up this weekend.
The Tigers have been pitted against the in-form Raiders in Canberra on Friday night, while the Roosters will play Penrith on Saturday at the SFS.
