During a historic hearing at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday night, Storm player Harry Grant was found not guilty of a grade one dangerous contact charge. The ruling would have established a very harsh precedent for what constitutes illegal contact on kickers.
Grant was relegated to the sin bin after making contact with Daniel Atkinson of Cronulla when kicking the ball on Saturday night, but the Storm insisted he had done nothing wrong and could have taken a $1000 fine.
The Tony Puletua and former referee Sean Hampstead-led judiciary panel concurred, taking just ten minutes to reach a unanimous decision that acknowledged the danger of the touch but maintained that Grant had not acted irresponsibly.
Given that the impact of the play didn’t seem to be as severe as in previous collisions—Roosters utility Sandon Smith was suspended but not penalized for tackling Dylan Walker in the air—the decision to punish Grant was heavily criticized at the time.
Although kicker safety has always been a top priority, it has received additional attention this year due to Rabbitohs halfback Lachlan Ilias’s broken leg in a horrifying NSW Cup tackle that resulted in Freddy Lussick’s four-game ban.
Grant, who had played with Atkinson at the Storm, claimed that Atkinson’s sleeper play late in the first half forced him to adjust his angle and avoid a potential 40/20.
Leave a Reply