The Roosters are privately seething over an alleged hip-drop tackle from Melbourne’s Felise Kaufusi which did not attract a charge from the NRL’s match review committee, as Lindsay Collins’ season hangs in the balance.
Three-time premiership-winning coach Trent Robinson will meet with club officials on Monday to determine whether to seek a judiciary downgrade to a grade three dangerous contact charge levelled at Collins, which carries a four-week suspension with an early guilty plea.
But according to sources familiar with the situation, the club is bemused Kaufusi is not facing his own sanction after video circulated of the Queensland State of Origin star using his body weight to stop the momentum of Siosuia Taukeiaho while two other teammates, Brandon Smith and Harry Grant, completed a second-half tackle.
Taukeiaho wasn’t hurt in the tackle, while Collins’ impact caused Storm forward Tom Eisenhuth to hurt his ankle. The injury is likely to keep Eisenhuth out for the majority of the finals series.
The NRL said it took no further action against Kaufusi because it was deemed he landed on the ground when he swivelled to make the tackle, rather than on the lower legs of Taukeiaho.
Collins’ only hope of playing again this season is to take the early guilty plea and hope the Roosters make the grand final, or successfully seek a downgrade on Tuesday night – a course of action which comes with a huge risk.
Melbourne’s Felise Kaufusi tackles Sio Suia Taukeiaho.Credit:Channel Nine
Collins would miss the rest of the year if he was to lose at the judiciary given the penalty would be increased to five matches.
The NRL’s match review committee has taken a dim view of hip-drop tackles which have caused serious injuries this year, including Brisbane’s Patrick Carrigan, who was handed a four-game ban for his tackle which broke the leg of the Tigers’ Jackson Hastings.
But the Roosters remain perplexed over the lack of action against Kaufusi, who is trying to win another title with the Storm before joining Wayne Bennett’s Dolphins.
The Roosters will not only be without Collins, but Victor Radley and Daniel Tupou too for the grudge match against the Rabbitohs at the opening of the new Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
Radley suffered a heavy concussion in the Roosters’ stirring win over the Storm at AAMI Park. The lock was left convulsing on the ground after reeling out of a tackle, but was said to be in good spirits over the weekend.
Veteran winger Tupou limped from the field with a groin injury and is expected not to be available until the second or third week of the finals if the Roosters can survive an elimination game in a fortnight.
North Queensland’s Coen Hess is facing a one-match ban after being charged with a grade two careless high tackle on South Sydney’s Campbell Graham in the dying minutes of their match at Accor Stadium on Saturday night. He will miss two matches if he unsuccessfully fights the charge at the judiciary.
The decision to sin-bin Hess for the shot, which came after he raced out of the defensive line, split experts over the weekend.
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