Canterbury’s post-grand final tailspin continued on Thursday night when their gamble to fight James Graham’s dangerous contact charge for biting Melbourne’s Billy Slater failed miserably at the NRL judiciary.
The night started in the most unusual way for the big front-rower but ended as most expected with a hefty 12-match suspension.
As Graham walked into the hearing flanked by Canterbury football manager Alan Thompson and chief executive Todd Greenberg, a fan sporting a Hannibal Lecter mask sledged the England international.
Graham didn’t give the man a second look as he came close to the mask of the character made famous by actor Anthony Hopkins, who played the cannibalistic serial killer Lecter in the Academy Award-winning film Silence Of The Lambs.
“You won’t be biting any ears tonight,” the man, Osma Bingilly, originally from Leeds but a resident of Australia for 21 years, said to Graham.
Before the former St Helens forward’s arrival, Bingilly didn’t mince his words.
“He’s a disgrace to England. Send him back,” he said.
Graham’s decision to enter a not guilty plea cost him any chance of a 25 per cent discount on the final penalty which could have seen the ban shaved to nine weeks.
The suspension continues a miserable few days for the Bulldogs, who are in damage control following allegations of inappropriate comments made by players to a television reporter during mad Monday celebrations.
The unidentified players were recorded shouting from a room inside Belmore Oval as the team assembled for their post-season celebrations 24 hours after their grand final loss to Melbourne.