The verdict has been delivered on Freddy Lussick's dangerous tackle on Lachlan Ilias after the hooker was sent straight to the NSWRL judiciary.
Competing in the NSW Cup last weekend, the New Zealand Warriors hooker was given his marching orders from the field after an attempted charge down but instead crashed into the legs of the halfback.
After meeting on Wednesday evening, the NSWRL judiciary panel have decided to suspend Lussick for the next four matches, per The Daily Telegraph.
It is understood that it was estimated that he was likely to receive a six-game suspension ban.
โNo surprise it's a fracture. I'm sure I heard the snap from 20 metres away,โ commentator Greg Alexander told Fox League.
โIt looks like it was Freddy Lussick's knee that made contact with Lachie Ilias' leg and broke it.
โWe don't want to put a time frame on his return, but a broken leg is six-plus weeks easy.โ
Lachlan Ilias will undergo surgery today after fracturing his tibia (shin bone). Surgery can include plate/screws or long rod/nail, likely facing 3-6 months recovery.
2nd tibia fracture in as many weeks in the NRL - crazy for a relatively rare injury. Wish Ilias the best. pic.twitter.com/mqvhLZKFQF
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) April 7, 2024
After the incident, Lachlan Ilias has since undergone surgery, with the club confirming that he has sustained a tibia fracture.
"Unfortunately not great news. Lachie Ilias has sustained a tibia fracture on the weekend from playingย NSW Cup," the club's Head of Performance Andrew Croll, said.
"He's had surgery immediately on the Sunday to repair that. The surgeon was really happy about that process.
"We'll just give him some time to mend and we'll get him back into the club around some good people, put full support around him and then he'll commence his long-term rehab plan and return."
New Zealand Warriors head coach Andrew Webster spoke about the incident following their game on Saturday and stated that accidents happen on the field and it was an unfortunate outcome.
โThe only period I saw was that there were 20 seconds to go so I thought someone was going to have to charge this ball down, otherwise we can't win the game,โ Webster said.
โThat's when I got up to turn, but the next thing I saw, they were on the ground so I can't really comment.
โI've heard that Freddy was trying to charge the football down, but I'm not across the situation.
โWith 20 seconds to go, that's probably going to have to be your mindset otherwise you're not going to win the game.โ
