Former Melbourne premiership-winning centre Curtis Scott is facing a lengthy ban after he unleashed a flurry of punches in a wild brawl in a country league match on the weekend.
Scott, who was deregistered by the NRL after a string of off-field incidents during his time at the Storm and Raiders, was sent off while playing for Thirlmere against Narellan in the Group 6 competition south-west of Sydney.
The 25-year-old fallen star took exception to a tackle from an opponent and when he got to his feet, he swung five punches at the head of the Narellan tackler, second-rower Teniko Tunupopo, before other players intervened.
He was sent off and now faces a long suspension after being charged with striking.
Curtis Scott. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Scott won a premiership as a teenager with the Storm in 2017 and after 48 NRL appearances, switched to Canberra in 2020 but only played 23 matches over two seasons before the club ripped up his contract due to his off-field behaviour.
He was signed by Parramatta but the NRL refused to register the deal and last year he was found guilty of assaulting his former partner and played on a 12-month community corrections order.
Fellow former NRL star Blake Ferguson is also playing for Narellan and scored 24 points, including a hat-trick of tries, in the 60-10 triumph.
Scott, who was playing at five-eighth, scored the opening two tries of the match for Thirlmere in their opening match of the season after they had the bye in Round 1. The incident happened late in the game with his team ahead by 50.
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Storm set to re-sign Nelson despite Wallabies interest
Melbourne are confident they will keep Nelson Asofa-Solomona at the club despite the Kiwi prop recently meeting Wallabies coach Eddie Jones about a potential switch.
The towering forward, who is currently sidelined with a foot injury, is off contract at the end of the season and has previously floated the idea of returning to rugby to play alongside former Storm teammate Suliasi Vunivalu.
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, he met Jones at the recent Super Round in Melbourne about the possibility of signing with Rugby Australia.
However, the Storm have offered him a new three-year deal and are confident of the dual premiership-winning front-rower putting pen to paper in the near future.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Hip-drop tackles under microscope
The NRL’s policing of the hip-drop tackles is under the spotlight after the three players were sin-binned in Sunday’s games.
Marata Niukore (Warriors), Dale Finucane (Sharks) and Jayden Okunbor (Bulldogs) were all binned and placed on report and will be awaiting the outcome of the match review committee’s findings on Monday morning.
The tackle, which is defined by a player dropping his weight onto the back of a ball-carrying opponent’s legs, has been the scourge of the NRL in recent years.
But in the case of Niukore and Finucane, it appeared as if the contact was accidental as defenders swung off a powerful ball-carrier who had crashed through the initial tackle.
Speaking on the Nine Network’s coverage, NSW State of Origin coach Brad Fittler described the decision to send Niukore to the bin in the Warriors’ 32-30 win over Cronulla as “harsh”.
Manly assistant coach Shane Flanagan was also critical in commentary for Fox Sports.
Niukore was attempting to bring down Siosifa Talakai when he fell onto the back of the Cronulla centre’s leg.
His coach, Andrew Webster, didn’t want to get drawn into the specifics but diplomatically expressed his frustration that referee Ben Cummins went back several tackles at the behest of the bunker to penalise his backrower.
“I’m not a fan of going back,” Webster said. “That’s no criticism of anyone who’s making those decisions because I haven’t seen it and I don’t know what happened.
“But it deflates the hell out of you when you defend a set and then you’re like ‘we’ve got the ball’ and then there’s confusion because they’re checking it and then we go all the way back.
“I’m not blaming anyone, but it’s frustrating.”
Finucane was penalised in the dying stages for similar contact on Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad.
His coach, Craig Fitzgibbon, claimed the contact was accidental and the Sharks skipper said he did not receive an explanation from Cummins.
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“From my point of view there was no intention whatsoever to have a hip-drop,” Finucane said.
“Obviously Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad has got great footwork and just beat me (and) with the rain and getting beaten by the footwork, I swung off to the back of the tackle.
“There was no malice or intent whatsoever.”
While Finucane was off the field, the Warriors were able to seal victory.
Last season St George Illawarra forward Tyrell Fuimaono was handed a five-game ban and Brisbane prop Patrick Carrigan got a four-week suspension.
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/QGqCPeX News: Fallen star faces long ban for wild bush brawl, Storm vs Wallabies for prop, hip-drop tackles in spotlight
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