Kobe Hetherington’s father has come to the aid of his son, labelling the decision to hand Kobe a red card as “terrible” in Brisbane’s 38-16 defeat to Canberra.
It’s yet another twist in the NRL’s commitment to the crackdown on high contact, as ex-Canterbury and Queensland hooker Jason Hetherington launched a staunch defence of his son after his shoulder caught Canberra’s Corey Harawira-Naera head after the latter was ankle tapped, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.
“I thought it was terrible,” Hetherington said.
“I don’t know why they just didn’t put it on report and look at it during the week. Teams don’t want to be playing 12 on 13, it’s a hard enough competition as it is.
“You can see it on the TV … [Harawira-Naera] was falling into the line of fire or danger zone. There was nothing he can do and we’ve all been in that situation. There are so many variables in the game of rugby league and I feel for the referees.”
The match review committee clearly agreed with Jason, as his son was charged with a grade one careless high tackle and an $1150 fine.
