Source : ABC NEWS
Jacob Preston’s lawyer has implored the NRL to launch a crackdown on diving after the Canterbury forward’s State of Origin hopes were dashed at the league’s judiciary.
A dejected Preston was on Tuesday night found guilty of a crusher tackle on Gold Coast’s Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and handed a four-match ban in a blow to the ladder-leading Bulldogs.
Preston’s disappointment was doubled by the fact he could have received a fine if not for two previous offences this year.
Instead, he will be sidelined for a month.
The NSW hopeful will miss matches against Canberra, the Sydney Roosters, the Dolphins and Parramatta, and not play again before teams are picked for State of Origin II.
But in a stunning post-hearing statement, Preston’s lawyer Paul McGirr claimed diving was widespread in the game as players attempted to earn penalties from crusher tackles.
“I’m not suggesting this with Tino, but some players certainly appear to be lying down a bit in order to milk a penalty,” McGirr said.
“Particularly when players go down and behave like their heads [are] almost falling off, and then they’re running it up two or three times in the next [set of] six.”
Preston (left) and his lawyer Paul McGirr during Tuesday night’s NRL judiciary hearing. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)
McGirr’s comments come after the record spate of sin-bins for foul play a fortnight ago, before a significant reduction at Magic Round.
Taking part in his first NRL hearing, McGirr said his stance came out of a fear the league would go down the same path as rugby union with stop-start play.
“The general punter in the pub is sick of it,” McGirr said.
“After the game even sometimes you can see opposition players smiling at each other and laughing about it.
“In this instance, the referee never even called anything out.”
Inside the hour-long hearing, Preston claimed Canterbury had prepared for Fa’asuamaleaui to turn his back into tackles.
And while McGirr suggested that left Fa’asuamaleaui vulnerable to injury, Preston said the Bulldogs had discussed how to tackle him safely.
McGirr then showed the panel at least 12 separate runs from Fa’asuamaleaui in Sunday’s match at Lang Park, where he turned his back into tackles during the Titans’ loss.
“Generally he will run the ball up and hit and spin and look to offload or gain post-contact metres while threatening to offload,” Preston said.
“We practise ways that are safe. We always prioritise the duty of care of players.”
The judiciary panel of Tony Puletua and Paul Simpkins took less than 15 minutes to reach its decision to suspend Preston.
AAP
