{"id":908095,"date":"2026-09-28T03:16:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T03:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908095\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T03:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T03:16:25","slug":"phoenix-crossland-referred-to-judiciary-to-miss-nrl-grand-final","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/908095\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix Crossland referred to judiciary, to miss NRL grand final"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harrison Graham has been backed to get the job done at dummy-half for Newcastle in Sunday\u2019s grand final after regular No.9 Phoenix Crossland was referred straight to the judiciary for his hip-drop tackle on Nathan Cleary.<\/p>\n

Crossland was sent off late in the first half for a tackle that resulted in the world\u2019s best player suffering a compound fracture of the ankle.<\/p>\n

He became the first player in the NRL to be sent off for a hip-drop tackle and will front the judiciary on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

Dragons forward Ryan Couchman received a four-match ban for a tackle that ended J\u2019maine Hopgood\u2019s season earlier in the year. <\/p>\n

The Knights defended stoically without Crossland on the field as they stunned the Panthers in the grand final qualifier, but they now have to do it again without the 2026 Danny Buderus Medal winner. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the best thing that we could have done for Phoenix is win,\u201d skipper Kalyn Ponga said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOtherwise, it probably would have been a lot worse for him. He\u2019s going to be shattered and gutted and everything, but we\u2019ve got his back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The suspension means Graham will likely start in the grand final against the Roosters after he came on and got through a mountain of work on Sunday. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s crafty,\u201d Ponga said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think even out there tonight when he came on you could hear Penrith talking about him. He\u2019s crafty but he\u2019s got a ton of heart and he\u2019s all effort in a lot of areas as well, so there\u2019s plenty to like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham has only started two matches this year and will need to punch out huge minutes, with the 25-year-old playing 50 minutes just three times this season. <\/p>\n

But the man who famously signed the first contract with the Dolphins is ready to fill the void in the biggest game of his life. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, definitely (I can play 80),\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll obviously have to wait and see what the Phoenix situation is. I don\u2019t really know what\u2019s going to happen, but I\u2019m ready and let\u2019s hope for the best.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been our best player all year. He\u2019s been someone who\u2019s been here since the younger grades with the Newcastle Knights and he epitomises what the team is. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf he\u2019s not playing next week, then we\u2019ll have him on our shoulder and that\u2019s what we\u2019ll be playing for.\u201c<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018We\u2019ve got his back\u2019: Phoenix Crossland referred straight to NRL judiciary following Nathan Cleary hip-drop tackle<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Harrison Graham has been backed to get the job done at dummy-half for Newcastle in Sunday\u2019s grand final…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[426738,466700,476120,397223,413647,380306,476122,384900,475433,432215,438429,376730,382827,380349,441426,476118,377225,189442,64,63,475321,476107,381309,93513,15900,5232,378754,476119,389167,476114,476111,476109,275564,476116,7992,1203,476106,761,762,10668,51485,158,77372,476108,476123,16284,29169,421891,402322,476121,54475,464126,85,8825,476105,476110,476104,381352,413524,469743,54179,377453,476103,377510,433026,420644,456469,380914,387599,101147,475434,378658,443882,380184,5991,476112,174850,379966,315971,465322,54798,378969,476117,476113,380519,364611,76526,476115,390398,8935,6624],"class_list":["post-908095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-best-player","tag-s-grand-final","tag-s-grand-final-dream","tag-s-hope","tag-s-replacement","tag-s-season","tag-50-minutes","tag-384900","tag-a-compound-fracture","tag-a-four-match-ban","tag-a-hip-drop-tackle","tag-a-lot","tag-a-mountain","tag-a-tackle","tag-a-ton","tag-all-effort","tag-all-year","tag-areas","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-crossland","tag-dummy","tag-full-faith","tag-graham","tag-harrison-graham","tag-heart","tag-his-back","tag-his-hip-drop-tackle","tag-his-life","tag-his-shocking-hip-drop-tackle","tag-huge-boots","tag-huge-minutes","tag-jmaine-hopgood","tag-just-three-times","tag-knights","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-nathan-cleary-hip-drop-tackle","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-newcastle","tag-next-week","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-judiciary","tag-our-best-player","tag-our-shoulder","tag-penrith","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-crossland","tag-ponga","tag-regular-no-9-phoenix-crossland","tag-ryan-couchman","tag-skipper-kalyn-ponga","tag-sports","tag-sunday","tag-the-2026-danny-buderus-medal-winner","tag-the-25-year-old-playing","tag-the-ankle-he","tag-the-best","tag-the-best-thing","tag-the-biggest-game","tag-the-dolphins","tag-the-field","tag-the-first-contract","tag-the-first-half","tag-the-first-player","tag-the-grand-final","tag-the-grand-final-qualifier","tag-the-job","tag-the-judiciary","tag-the-knights","tag-the-knights-hooker","tag-the-man","tag-the-newcastle-knights","tag-the-nrl","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-phoenix-situation","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-suspension","tag-the-team","tag-the-void","tag-the-world","tag-the-year","tag-the-younger-grades","tag-this-fate","tag-this-season","tag-this-year","tag-tonight","tag-tuesday-night-dragons","tag-two-matches","tag-win","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=908095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/908095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=908095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=908095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=908095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}