Rugby league legend James Graham believes Roosters enforcer Victor Radley is a “victim of reputation” after he was controversially sent to the sin bin on Thursday night.
The 25-year-old was given his marching orders for a lazy late shot on Cameron Munster in the 27th minute of his side’s 28-8 loss.
The Tricolours held an 8-6 lead with Radley was sent to the bin before Craig Bellamy’s side charged over the top to make the score 18-8 by halftime.
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Radley has previously been suspended multiple times and Graham believes majority of other NRL players wouldn’t have been sent from the field.
“I think Victor Radley is a victim of reputation in my opinion, I think we’ve seen that incident happen on a number of occasions,” Graham said on Triple M.
“But because it is Victor Radley he goes for 10… I’ve seen those this season and I can’t recall an example off the top of my head, but I am pretty sure I have seen a not too dissimilar incident where a player has not been sent to the sin bin.”
Graham also likened the tackle to Jahrome Hughes’ hit on Tanah Boyd, a tackle that saw the Storm halfback suspended for two games.
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However, Hughes remained on the field during the game.
Meanwhile, the Match Review Committee only handed Radley a fine if he took the early guilty plea.
“It was Jahrome Hughes tackle on Tanah Boyd, he ended up getting a suspension but wasn’t sent to the sin bin,” Graham said.
“I said during that game if that’s Victor Radley, if that is Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, these types of tackles, your reputation plays a part in.
“I believe the reason that tackle was a sin bin was because it was Victor Radley.
“That’s the price you pay for having Victor Radley in your team, he brings so much to them, but I just think Melbourne really put the Roosters to the sword during those moments.
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“There will be some soul-searching going on.”
Trent Robinson said he was very frustrated with Radley’s actions, however he did agree that his gun lock should have been sent to the sin bin.
“Look you can’t do that, if that happened to Kez (Keary) I’d be really frustrated there, it wasn’t necessary and it wasn’t the end of the world at the same time,” Robinson said.
“I want him to fix it but not dwell on it, he’s made some really good progressions this year so he’s not going to go back to zero on the stuff he’s got under control and the way that he’s played the game.
“He’s playing good minutes, he’s got good vision of play and he made a mistake there but we won’t dwell on it for too long.”
