The rule quirks that see foul play not penalised A Set the default text size A Set large text size
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Round 9 of the NRL prompted much discussion about the handling of foul play.
The Eels-Roosters clash on Friday night led to suspensions for Parramatta’s Marata Niukore and Dylan Brown for incidents in one passage of play leading up to halftime.
The failure to follow due process in the handling of Brown’s ugly knees-first effort on the Rooster’s Drew Hutchison, including a 20-minute delay in putting Brown on report, saw bunker official Steve Chiddy dropped. At the time of the incidents Niukore was penalised and placed on report. Neither player was sin-binned, something NRL head of football Graham Annesley has since stated both incidents warranted.
Junior Paulo and Payne Haas both possess huge engines and could form a NSW front-row alliance next month.
The pair finished first and second on the VB Hard Earned index for round nine with mammoth scores of 98 and 96 respectively.
The average index score for a prop is 57.8 – so the duo performed levels above the baseline of hard work for their position.
Eels prop Paulo, who made his Origin debut last year, had 22 carries in a win over the Roosters including 15 runs where he gained eight or more metres. He also produced 23 tackles and four offloads.
With his form part of the reason that Parramatta have lost only one match in 2021, Paulo looks set to again feature for the Blues.
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Dragons coach Anthony Griffin has confirmed the club will welcome Jack de Belin back onto the football field as quickly as possible if the Director of Public Prosecutions decides not to pursue his sexual assault case for the third time.
The matter will be back in court later this month where the Director of Public Prosecutions will decide whether they will take the five charges to court for a third time.
Griffin confirmed tonight the forward is fit enough and ready to go should he be cleared to return to game day duties.
Jack de Belin arrives at Downing Centre Local and District Court in Sydney. (Steven Siewert)
A tale of two rebuilds: Dragons versus Bulldogs A Set the default text size A Set large text size
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As far as spectacles go, the Dragons versus Bulldogs game last Sunday was one best forgotten.
Indeed, if anything it lent plenty of weight to the widespread suspicion that the NRL lacks the quality of players to field a 17th team when the second Brisbane club inevitably enters the comp in 2023.
For all the wrong reasons, these two proud clubs share a number of parallels as far as recent on and off-field performances go.
The Bulldogs finished with Lewis and Allan (head and neck) taken away in ambulance - the latter convulsing after a heavy concussion - with Flanagan’s omission the first sign of Barrett losing patience with one of his own signings.
He is desperately trying to rebuild the club before the arrivals of Josh Addo-Carr and Panthers pair Matt Burton and Brent Naden next year.
Flanagan and Burton were expected to be the halves who would rejuvenate the Bulldogs, but the immediate future of the former will be under the microscope before Canterbury’s clash against the brittle Raiders next week.