Interesting to not that Rangi Chase and Isaac Luke are actually cousins.

The elbow on Tomkins was a joke and should have seen a card. It was a clear attempt to hurt our major attacking threat.

What es me off is when the ref says to Smith "You elbowed a player in the head", so obvioulsy saw it, but then places it on report.

What happens to these two grubs, now? Since they're out of the competetion, will the disciplinary decision count for anything?

Firstly, aren't all Kiwis cousins?
Secondly, the refs from the NRL in the 4N have been lacking danglies big time and seem to encourage a lot of niggle around the ruck.

This NZ team is in no way, shape or form the "dirtiest" NZ team by a long, long way. I think we've forgoten what international RL used to be like (or maybe some are just too young to have seen it in it's glory). England did well to get on with it and not get involved. The penalty count murdered the Kiwis far better than a punch up would have.

In the not too distant past it would have been acceptable for Morely or Peacock to smack the f*** out of Luke and any other $h1thouses in the NZ team and still be available for the Australia game. Those days are gone, but I do think if referees are going to use the "on report" system as a way of abstaining from dealing with things on the field then maybe they should be brought back.

Have been watching Intl RL since 1978, and what was so bad about this incident was the cowardice and intent.

Melbourne Storm tactics come to international RL - it was only a matter of time.

Aside from none of the players actually coming from the storm, sure.

Stephen Kearney spent years at Melbourne Storm, alongside Michael Macguire, in a coaching capacity.

But then would it not be Parramatta tactics coming to the international scene? He hasn't been at the storm for a couple of years now, are Parramatta a filthy team?

Parramatta haven't got the time to learn dirty tactics, their to busy learning the basics like passing and catching.

Maybe if the ref sees the incident, but can't judge the level of intent, then the (cop out) decision is to put it on report. What they need to have is the ability to refer these to the video ref for an 'instant' decision that actually affects the on-field offender, rather than suspension for a later match.

10mins in the bin for deliberate foul play imo, if it is serious deliberate foul play red card. I'd have had no problems with Luke getting a red and Smith getting a yellow during that game.

Absolutely.

It's farcical to hear the ref explain to the player that he's deliberately intended to injur, then issue no on-field sanction; it's a complete cop-out and sends out entirely the wrong message.

That lack of bottle could easily have resulted in the game descending into a brawl, as players go looking for retribution because they feel that the ref hasn't protected one of their mates.

Luke - 2 match ban
Smith - 1 match ban

Both set to appeal

Issac Luke has been give a whopping 2 game ban which they have announced will be appealed + will be wiped out in friendlies before the NRL even starts.

His act IMO was the most cowardly act I have ever seen. The only incidents that even compare was Cassidy's elbow on Morley (Wigan v Leeds in 199icon_cool.gif + when Andy Dannat deliberately smashed Ellery Hanleys jaw.

Issac Luke should have been suspended for months. He deliberatley tried to injure a player. Disgraceful.

I also cannot believe the English fowards didnt fly in. The Aussie forwards would have certainly made someone like that pay big time.

I cant believe that little runt has got away with it!

Why isnt the English camp, Ian Millward or the RFL making more out of this incident. The Aussies would be going nuts if this happened against 1 of their players!

I don' think many of the English players realised how bad it was at the time. It was only with the benefit of slow motion and action replays most people could see what a cowardly and malicious act it was.

Fair enough but the disciplinary should be throwing the book at him!

the ref is as gutless as the judicary pannel! they both COULD of end tomkins and chase's tournement. LIMA got longer bans for less this season!

It does seem quite a lenient punishment. It's disgusting that he even stayed on the pitch, given that the ref and VR saw the incident quite clearly. The whole 'on report' system should be scrapped immediately. It's just an easy way for refs to avoid making tough decisions.

Why blame the VR? He can't get involved with incidents like that.7

On the other hand, he should have walked!

I didn't blame the VR. HTH.

Didn't mean it like that but in your post you mentioned the VR seeing it. The VR seeing it or not seeing it doesn't change anything

Can both also play out there suspensions in official NRL pre season games...

Complete Joke.

The VR can't send a player off, but he can have a word in the ref's ear if he hasn't seen a particular incident. That said, the ref did see it, and shouldn't have hesitated to take out his red card.

Yes he can have a word in the ref's ear. But he shouldn't.