St George Illawarra Dragons' five-eighth Kyle Flanagan has been found guilty of biting Stephen Crichton during Saturday evening's clash at Kogarah.
It took almost 90 minutes for the evidence to be delivered during the hearing, and a period of time for the panel chaired by Geoff Bellew, and also including former referee and administrator Greg McCallum and ex-player and referee Henry Perenara to reach a verdict on the alleged biting incident.
A four-match ban has been imposed against Flanagan, who will now miss the remainder of the regular season and be free to return for the finals if the Dragons make it.
The Dragons will now likely turn to Jack Bird at five-eighth with their run home featuring games against the Gold Coast Titans (home), Cronulla Sharks (home), Parramatta Eels (away) and Canberra Raiders (home), with the joint-venture likely needing two, if not three wins to make the finals.
The incident during Saturday night's loss for the Dragons came late in the game, with Crichton's nose appearing to enter Flanagan's mouth before being pulled.
Crichton emerged from the incident with a bleeding nose, although the star Bulldogs' and New South Wales Blues centre didn't appear during the hearing at NRL headquarters on Tuesday evening.
In finding Flanagan guilty, the panel were asked to ensure the burden of proof was on the NRL, who used Lachlan Gyles as their prosecuting counsel.
Gyles, in his evidence, used photos and videos to confirm Flanagan had bitten Crichton during the tackle, with Flanagan himself asked to give evidence and stating he didn't bite the Bulldogs' centre, but instead suggesting he was under pressure being tackled, with Crichton's force 'suffocating' him and that at one point his jaw did partially close.
In what will be the first suspension of Flanagan's career, the Dragons' five-eighth said he never realised Crichton's nose was in his mouth during the hearing.
Flanagan, who was backed by CEO Ryan Webb and head of football Ben Haran at the hearing, was represented by James McLeod, who said there was no way the panel could know if Flanagan's action was intentional.
“This is a serious allegation, a grave allegation, against someone who has a clean record," McLeod said in his evidence per NRL.com.
"Kyle is the only one who knows if this was intentional or not. Crichton comes at him at least twice, in our submission Crichton positions his nose so that it goes into his mouth.
"Crichton's nose gets wedged in and he pulls it out. His head rotates. There is force generated there. We have minor grazing on the bridge of the nose and a mild cut underneath Crichton's nose, between the two nostrils. That is consistent with what we say occured.”
The Dragons and McLeod also used the fact Crichton made no formal complaint at the time as part of their evidence, instead only complaining post-game.
MORE TO COME.