Cronulla star Dale Finucane was unable to overturn a dangerous contact charge but claimed a narrow victory in a surprise turnaround in the NRL’s judiciary.
Finucane was hit with a grade three dangerous contact charge for a tackle on Penrith center Stephen Crichton, in which the latter’s left ear was badly lacerated.
Crichton was left needing stitches and seeing a plastic surgeon, but the entry was not penalized at the time.
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The match review committee saw it differently and charged Finucane. He could have accepted a two-game suspension, but chose to plead not guilty to the judiciary.
He argued his case to Chief Judiciary Geoff Bellew and panel members Dallas Johnson and Bob Lindner on Tuesday night.
Stephen Crichton was taken for an HIA after this Dale Finucane hit. (Supplied)
After nearly two hours, there was a unanimous guilty verdict, resulting in a three-match ban.
But Finucane’s team played a trick and then challenged the rating of the charge, trying to reduce it from three to one.
After another half hour of arguments and deliberations, the panel agreed to lower it to two, resulting in a two-game ban.
Earlier, he had explained that the contact was a head bump, rather than his shoulder making contact with Crichton’s head.
“I felt contact with the left side of my face making contact with the left side of Stephen Crichton’s face and that’s the only contact I felt,” Finucane told the panel.
“I didn’t feel any contact with my shoulder and his face.
Dale Finucane meets Stephen Crichton after suffering an ear injury. (Getty)
“The goal was to limit the amount of yards they could get down the field getting to the player who was isolated.
“It’s not a standard tackle to try and, as I said, it wasn’t my intention to make head-on contact. But Stephen Crichton’s pivoting movement and leg drop caused the collision.” .
Finucane’s legal representative, Nick Ghabar, argued the fact that Crichton lowered his height before the impact made the attack worse.
“He bends his left leg forward. He can’t get down to make an effective tackle,” Ghabar said of Finucane.
“There’s nothing respectful I could have done to avoid the tackle. That’s what he told you.
“You’ll notice there’s no umpire’s report in front of you. The umpire didn’t see this other than the head bump, which is an accepted risk of playing rugby league.”
Finucane will miss Cronulla’s games against the Rabbitohs and Dragons.
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