Sia Soliola’s hit which knocked out Billy Slater was “as cheap as they come”, says Andrew Johns, who wants more to to protect playmakers from late tackles.
Soliola is facing a likely heavy suspension for the hit which led to Melbourne star Slater being taken off on a medicab and prompted NRL referees boss Tony Archer to say the Canberra backrower should have been sent off.
His late swinging arm to Slater’s head wasn’t enough to convince referee Matt Cecchin to give Soliola his marching orders early in the second half in Canberra on Saturday.
In Soliola’s defence, Slater’s body height was dropping when hit but that Johns saw no excuse.
“The ball was passed,” Johns said on the Nine Network’s The Sunday Footy Show.
“It’s a cheap shot, he should’ve been sent off. I know Sio Soliola’s a lovely guy, but that was a cheap shot; as cheap as they come, and (he) should’ve been sent off.”
Johns claimed there was a defensive trend of late tackles in the game that was contributing to a scarcity of high-standard playmakers.
“Every weekend I see halfbacks go to the line and pass, and then a second or two later the guy 22 kilos bigger than him just smashes him from behind in the ribs or kidneys.
“How can we produce smaller guys who are creative when they pass the ball and big blokes come from behind and smash them in the kidneys and ribs.”
Johns compared the lack of penalty to the 12-game suspension and six-figure fine for Mitchell Pearce’s Australia Day behaviour last year.
“We’re so paranoid about the image of the game, someone off the field, take what happened to Mitchell Pearce – ban him for 12 weeks, $125,000 fine,” Johns said.
“What about that? What about that image of the game? What about mums sitting at home watching that, what are they going to think?”
The high shot ended Slater’s night and despite skipper Cameron Smith also going off with a pec injury, the Storm rallied to edge the Raiders 20-14 in a gritty battle.
“It’s important to note that Sia Soliola is on report and the matter will be addressed by the Match Review Committee,” Archer said in a statement
“But based on a review of the tackle, the incident did meet the indicators of a send off.
“The match officials always have the option of a send off and I expect them to use it in instances of serious foul play.”
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy agreed, and compared the incident with Cameron Munster’s sin-binning in the final minute for a professional foul.
“If it’s not a sending off then I don’t know what is a sending off,” Bellamy said.
“An incident like that happens, and you’re on report so he’s going to come under scrutiny without doubt, but then we lose a player for 10 minutes for holding on to someone.”
