League legend Ben Elias has criticised the NRL judiciaryโs decision to rule out Panthers back-rower Viliame Kikau from club's preliminary final next weekend.
The Penrith star was found guilty of a dangerous throw which led to a one-match suspension, where Kikau will now miss the Panthers first preliminary final since 2014.
The 25-year-old was found guilty for throwing Roosters enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves into a dangerous position.
The decision was made in 15 minutes by judiciary panel members Ben Creagh, Sean Garlick and Dallas Johnson.
Speaking onย NRL 360ย on Wednesday night, Elias said the judiciary should use some โcommon senseโ in the future.
ย โAbsolutely ridiculous. Ridiculous, ridiculous. Unbelievable.โ Elias said when asked about the Kikau verdict.
โThis is a bloke whoโs a superstar. The players deserve a little bit of leeway.
โThis is the second biggest game of his career coming up and heโs going to miss it, and for what? Itโs the spectators that are going to miss out.
โHeโs the superstar, Penrith are on a roll, heโs a fantastic celebrity out west, and theyโre not going to see him in the second-biggest game of the year.โ
League great Geoff Toovey agreed, stating a fine would have been a suitable charge.
โI understand he could have been penalised, (received) a fine, but a whole game, a semi-finals match...โ Toovey said on the program.
โI know weโve got to take playersโ safety into account ... but I agree with you Ben ... I donโt think that was a dangerous tackle"
BREAKING: Guilty! Kikau rubbed out of Panthers preliminary final ๐โ
๐ https://t.co/lbW9Ej2Z0f pic.twitter.com/3rqYsvWC20
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) October 6, 2020
What idiots.
โThis is a bloke whoโs a superstar. The players deserve a little bit of leeway.โ
So if your really good you should be able to get away with breaking the rules. If your really good you shouldnโt get punished equally. What idiots.
โThis is the second biggest game of his career coming up and heโs going to miss it, and for what? Itโs the spectators that are going to miss out.โ
โHeโs the superstar, Penrith are on a roll, heโs a fantastic celebrity out westโ
So what because his team is on a roll and heโs a celebrity he should be treated differently. Donโt bring in the spectators are going to miss. Kikau as a professional knows the rules and knows the punishments of his actions. If he breaks the rules heโs going to face the consequences. Yes the fans miss out on Kikau playing but itโs his own fault.
Whatโs next Jack De Belin is sentenced for Jail for his rape case but because heโs a star he should get treated differently. Or Bronson Xerri because heโs a star he shouldnt get banned for doing drugs either.
Itโs these kind of stupid takes which lead to bigger issues
Well the tackle may have started out as putting the player in a dangerous position. Then he was put down gently on his chest / stomach.
Hargreaves has been suspended many times. Did another head high hit. He gets a fine.
So if you play for the Roosters or similarly favoured clubs , itโs all good. Just a fine & youโre good to play. If you play for the Panthers , itโs youโre a very bad boy & you must be suspended. Itโs not for the first time that Penrith have copped the rough end of the stick , when it comes to suspensions.
Penrith should use this as yet more motivation to Win through to the Grand Final. Given that they were minor premiers by a bit, they at least deserve to make the Grand Final.