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melbourne storm originator Nelson Asoff-Solomon His grand final fate will be determined as he challenges his four-match suspension for a high shot on Lindsay Collins in the preliminary final at the NRL Judiciary.
The Storm will need the charge reduced to Grade 1 high contact to reduce their penalty sanction and free them for Sunday’s grand final against the Penrith Panthers.
the roar Live updates will be posted here when the judiciary hearing begins 6:00 (AEST).
Refresh this article to get the latest news Let us know in the comments if you think he should be banned or allowed to play in GF.
8:20pm: The panel is now considering whether Asofa-Solomona should be found guilty of a grade one or grade three offence. If he receives a downgrade to a Grade One charge, he will be free to take his place in the line-up on grand final night. If the grade-three offense is sustained, he will be banned for five matches, meaning he will be able to play again in Round 2 at the earliest after next year’s Pacific Championships.
8.05 pm: Gabbar has been eliminated and Bellew is now responding to the panel of Simpkins and Lindner by saying that they need to ignore the fact that a grand final spot is at stake.
“You treat it like any other case,” he said.
7:50 pm: Garber is now claiming that Collins was to blame for the high contact.
“In terms of generating force, the player Collins was responsible for. He did not take any action to protect himself, which is unfortunate.”
7.35 pm: Gabar is now trying to convince the panel that Asofa-Solomona made high contact with Collins because he is almost 2 meters taller.
“He could have stooped more, but he’s a big man,” argued Ghabar.
He said there was “no doubt the tackle was high” but argued that the initial contact was to the Storm player’s chest or collarbone, not the arm or shoulder.
However, he said that Asofa-Solomona’s collarbone was the point on his body that made contact, describing it as “front or chest contact, not arm or shoulder contact”.
7:20 pm: Gabor is showing footage of Valentine Holmes’ high shot over Payne Haas from Origin, which was rated Grade One as a similar hit to Asofa-Solomona’s Collins hit.
Giles countered by saying that the grade three was correct this time compared to the Holmes incident.
7.05 pm: Roosters doctor Matthew Morgan said Collins’ jaw was injured by the impact of Asofa-Solomona’s shoulder as he mis-played the ball, a sure sign of Category 1 symptoms.
“There were clear signs of concussion which required an 11-day stand down.”
6.50 pm: The panel shows footage of the incident from at least 10 camera angles. The NRL is being represented by Lachlan Giles SC at the hearing, with Roosters doctor Matthew Morgan asked to give evidence about how Collins was injured by the hit.
6.30 Update: Geoff Bellew chairs the panel which includes former referee Paul Simpkins and former Kangaroo back-rower Bob Lindner. If the other two cannot reach an agreement, Bellew will have the casting vote. There has been a slight delay in starting the work and now Ghabar is debating the case or his site to get a double downgrade.
He has pleaded guilty and just wants to prove that it was a grade-one offence, not a grade-three offence.
Update at 6pm: Asofa-Solomona has arrived at NRL headquarters accompanied by legal eagle Nick Garber and Storm football manager Frank Ponisi to face the judicial panel.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Update at 5pm: Asofa-Solomona has flown to Sydney to face an expedited NRL judiciary hearing.
The Storm will seek a downgrading with Asofa-Solomona handed a four-match ban for the high tackle that knocked out Collins.
Asofa-Solomona has pleaded guilty, but will push for a double downgrade from a grade-three to a grade-one offense and instead argue he should only receive a $3000 fine.
The Storm were shocked that their star Kiwi prop had been handed the grade-three charge, and immediately sought the advice of lawyer Nick Garber, who will represent Asofa-Solomona on Monday night.
The Storm have had success in similar circumstances before, with Billy Slater escaping a ban due to a shoulder injury in Grand Final week of 2018.
If Asofa-Solomona fails in his attempt to have the charge reduced, he will receive a five-game ban.
Beyond the Grand Final, three of those matches will likely feed into New Zealand’s Pacific Championship campaign.
Joe Chan or Lazarus Walepu are the most likely to feature in the 17 if they are banned, but the pair have only played 21 NRL games and neither have featured in this finals series yet.
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