The Newcastle Knights have formally entered their plea for Phoenix Crossland’s judiciary hearing on Tuesday night, giving up all hope of him playing in the NRL grand final. Crossland was referred directly to the judiciary by the match review committee after breaking Nathan Cleary’s leg with a hip-drop tackle in the prelim.
On Tuesday afternoon the Knights entered a guilty plea, abandoning all hope that Crossland might escape suspension. Under NRL rules, an incident referred straight to the judiciary means it’s worse than a Grade 3 charge (which carries a two-game ban at minimum).
With that in mind, there’s no scope for Crossland to escape with a fine and play in the grand final, even though many believe his actions were no worse than Victor Radley’s tackle on Herbie Farnworth last Friday night that earned him a $3000 fine. AAP is also reporting that the NRL and judiciary won’t consider allowing Crossland to defer his ban until 2027.
Taylan May was controversially allowed to play in the 2022 finals series for Penrith and serve a two-game ban at the start of 2023 instead. But that was for an off-field matter, with the NRL ruling that a delay in the court process resulted in unfair timing for May as the guilty verdict only came right before the finals.
A multi-game ban will have ramifications for New Zealand at the World Cup as well. Crossland is the incumbent Kiwi hooker and has played six Tests for NZ, but will likely miss most if not all of the World Cup. Each team plays three group games before the semi-finals and final.
Phoenix Crossland ‘hurting’ after Nathan Cleary incident
Crossland contacted Cleary on Monday to apologise, and the Panthers halfback also took to social media to defend his counterpart from some ugly online abuse. Speaking on Tuesday, Knights teammate Francis Manuleleua said Crossland is holding up pretty well considering the circumstances.
“I know he’s probably hurting inside, but with how fast the game is going, those accidents are bound to happen,” the forward said. “It is what it is and hopefully Cleary recovers well and gets back on the field ASAP.”
Nathan Cleary has called on the abuse directed at Phoenix Crossland to stop. Image: Nathan Cleary/Getty
Cleary posted on social media on Monday night: “Please don’t be one of those people writing comments like this to Phoenix. It was a complete accident and he doesn’t deserve the unwarranted hate. He reached out to apologise and I have nothing but respect for him.
“He’s a competitor and our game is made up of split-second moments that sometimes lead to unfortunate circumstances. Comments like this are so unfair. Spread love, not hate.”