No lack of drama for NRL to review
An incident-packed weekend will be discussed at length by NRL officials on Monday.
Incidents ranging from the allegedly criminal to the definitely bizarre during Friday's St George Illawarra-Bulldogs match and Saturday's NZ Warriors-Parramatta match will come under scrutiny from David Gallop's team at its management meeting.
On Friday a member of ABC television's The Chaser team, Chas Licciardello, was arrested at the Oki Jubilee Stadium match, for allegedly attempting to stir up the crowd by handing out fake weapons while dressed in Bulldogs supporters gear.
Police said the 29-year-old comedian would be issued with a notice to attend Sutherland Local Court at a later date charged with offensive conduct.
Asked whether Licciardello or his team would be banned from NRL fixtures, NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said:
"We haven't had any internal discussions yet about any further action we might take.
"We would normally review all of the incidents out of the weekend at our regular management meeting on Monday."
In another incident on Friday night, Bulldogs centre Andrew Emelio was spotted twice on Nine network cameras in the side's dressing room sporting what appeared to be a T-shirt wrapped around his head to imitate a Muslim burqa.
Annesley said the incident was also likely to be discussed.
On Saturday at Mt Smart Stadium, Parramatta forward Dean Widders claimed he was almost hit by a bottle during his side's 20-12 win over the Warriors.
"I don't know if it was thrown exactly at me but it nearly hit me," Widders told the Sunday Telegraph.
"Maybe half a metre, I could feel it go past."
Annesley said the NRL will be investigating the incident.
"At this stage we'll wait for the ground manager's report to see whether he's reported it.
"We will investigate and talk to the club tomorrow."
The Warriors said they would launch an investigation over Widders' complaint.
"I don't think it was thrown at a player, but it was thrown on to the field," Warriors chief executive Wayne Scurrah said.
"We will investigate that. It would be a concern if it happened."
And Parramatta coach Jason Taylor claimed Warriors second-rower Awen Guttenbeil deliberately tried to distract Eels goalkicker Mark Riddell during the match.
"There is a rule that prevents players from deliberately trying to distract the kicker," Annesley said.
But he said it was "highly unlikely" Guttenbeil would be charged by the NRL's match review committee.
"It's more a matter that's usually dealt with by the referee on the field, it's not a matter of misconduct, it's purely a matter of any other normal breach of the rules that the referee will rule on."
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