{"id":37017,"date":"2025-09-22T17:16:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T17:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/37017\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T17:16:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T17:16:10","slug":"nathan-cleary-sanctioned-as-panthers-player-learns-fate-over-horrible-act-blasted-by-andrew-johns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/37017\/","title":{"rendered":"Nathan Cleary sanctioned as Panthers player learns fate over ‘horrible’ act blasted by Andrew Johns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Panthers utility Brad Schneider has escaped with a $1000 fine and will be free to play in the preliminary final over an incident described as “horrible” and “dangerous” by Andrew Johns<\/a>. The NRL legend continued his crusade against the third-man-in tackle<\/a> on Sunday, after Schneider was placed on report during the Panthers’ win over the Bulldogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Panthers utility dived at the legs of Sitili Tupouniua while two Panthers players were holding him upright – a much-maligned act that’s been banned by the NRL in recent years. However players keep falling into the trap of committing them because they’re not outlawed completely.<\/p>\n

Schneider was facing a nervous wait and the prospect of being rubbed out of the prelim, but the match review committee only dished out a fine on Monday after ruling it a grade-one charge for dangerous contact. Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary was also fined $1000 for grade-one high contact on Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey, and is free to take on the Broncos as well.<\/p>\n

\"Brad<\/p>\n

Brad Schneider (second from left) has escaped with a fine after Andrew Johns (R) blasted his tackle. Image: Getty<\/p>\n

Andrew Johns blasts ‘horrible’ Brad Schneider tackle<\/p>\n

Players are allowed to be the third-man-in so long as the contact isn’t too forceful and they hit above the thighs. But according to Johns, the practice needs to be eradicated completely.<\/p>\n

“I hate this tackle,” Johns said in commentary for Channel 9 after the Schneider incident. “They need to get that tackle out of the game. If there’s two men in the tackle, you should not be allowed to have a third man come in and dive at the knees.<\/p>\n

“That’s horrible. There’s got to be severe punishment. If you have two players in the tackle and the momentum is stopped, you should not allow another player to come in. I don’t care if they hit above the knees or above the waist. It’s outright dangerous.”<\/p>\n

\"Brad<\/p>\n

Brad Schneider was put on report for diving at Sitili Tupouniua’s knees. Image: Channel 9<\/p>\n

It’s not the first time this season that Johns has made similar comments. Cowboys forward Coen Hess copped a three-game ban for a similar tackle late in the season, while teammate Karl Lawton has received two separate two-game bans<\/a> for the same act. Working in Schneider’s favour is the fact it’s his first offence, whereas Hess and Lawton are repeat offenders.<\/p>\n

Schneider has become a vital member of Ivan Cleary’s team, playing 22 minutes off the bench against the Bulldogs on Sunday. He covers the halves and can also play hooker, coming on to give Mitch Kenny a rest on Sunday on his return from a hamstring injury. Schneider was an unused bench player in the grand final last year.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/p>\n

Liam Martin and Casey McLean dismiss injury concerns<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Liam Martin and Casey McLean have both ensured Panthers fans they’ll be right for the prelim. Martin sent a huge scare through the Panthers’ camp late in their 46-26 win over Canterbury when he copped a heavy knock from Viliame Kikau.<\/p>\n

The State of Origin star stayed down for some time before leaving the field, but has insisted he was only winded. “They’re all right now,” he said of his ribs. “There was a bit of carry on there. It’s a bit sore at the moment, but they’re alright. I landed on the ball, and ‘Kiks’ is a pretty big man and he landed on me. I was a bit winded but I’m alright now.”<\/p>\n

McLean suffering a hip-pointer injury and also left the field early. But the teenage centre also played down any concerns after the match, confident he would be fine to take on Brisbane.<\/p>\n

“I just landed on it funny, I got up and it was a bit sore,” McLean told AAP. “I was probably just being a bit soft.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Panthers utility Brad Schneider has escaped with a $1000 fine and will be free to play in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37018,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[34212,32696,18784,111,139,69,16856,34213,213,16858],"class_list":{"0":"post-37017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-andrew-johns","9":"tag-brad-schneider","10":"tag-bulldogs","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-panthers","15":"tag-sitili-tupouniua","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-the-panthers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37017\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}