Roosters and Storm big men Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Nelson Asofa-Solomona locked horns in a fiery first-half battle as tempers flared at AAMI Park.
The melee began when the Melbourne prop held young gun Sam Verrills in a tackle, receiving a hand to the throat from Victor Radley.
Later, Cameron Munster was struck high on the Roosters tryline by Waerea-Hargreaves — and it was clear tensions were coming to boiling point.
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Asofa-Solomona charged in to shove Radley who was attempting to take the ball from the Storm playmaker, sparking a wrestle.
“That gets Nelson interested, and this has a little more venom, Waerea-Hargreaves and Asofa-Solomona, old warriors getting intimate,” Fox League’s Dan Ginnane said.
Referee Adam Gee drew a “line in the sand” and warned both captains he wouldn’t hesitate sending players to the bin.
“Listen, I have already spoken to you about Nelson, he has come in and flared it up again and he has been grabbing players,” Gee said.
“Listen to me, if he comes in again, or we get another melee blokes will be sitting down, no more, line in the sand.”
But neither teams listened.
Off the penalty, Asofo-Solomona lined up his target and charged at Waerea-Hargreaves, staying down clutching his face as both teams huddled over the downed prop.
“Adam Gee has set a standard and he might have to stick with it, it took just one tackle for this to flare up,” Ginnane said.
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“This is going to test the referee.”
Upon review, Waerea-Hargreaves could be seen making a second attempt, coming in contact with the Storm enforcer’s face.
“It isn’t the initial contact, it is on the ground,” Gee said raising ten fingers to send Waerea-Hargreaves marching.
The deafening noise of the Melbourne crowd at AAMI Park booing rang out, as the Storm playing group escaped any sanction for the continuous fighting and the first half finished 14-6.
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