Parramatta Eels’ winger Bailey Simonsson flattened James Tedesco with a high and dangerous challenge that was deemed a grade-three careless high tackle by the NRL. Simonsson will now miss two matches if he decides to plead guilty. If he contests the charges and losses, he will be on the sidelines for three games. The Sydney Roosters won the game 28-20 and looked particularly good in attack in the first half of the match.
Tedesco is out for Two Weeks
Roosters’ coach Trent Robinson and captain Luke Keary think there was have been no malice in the tackle. However, they are also aware of the consequences for both the player and the team. Tedesco will definitely miss the Melbourne game for the Roosters, and will only be able to return to contact training before round seven and the game against Cronulla.
Trent Robinson said that “20 minutes into the game,” he knew he had lost the player for a fortnight, and “it wasn’t a great feeling.” The positive thing was that the player remembered what had happened, and they talked about the contact and how high it was.
Robinson Seeks Clarity on High Hits Punishments
The Roosters’ coach said that the NRL needed to decide, under the revised concussion protocols, if head contacts warrant a sending-off. He didn’t want to talk about the incident with Simonsson because he could see that the player “didn’t leave the ground.”
However, the coach said that didn’t change the fact that Tedesco was now out of action for two weeks and the contact was high. So, he wanted to know if that type of challenge was 10 minutes out or a direct sending-off.
Robinson now has to decide whether he will once again field Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i after his impressive performance against the Eels or if he will go with the no longer suspended Joey Manu.
