What did Haumole Olakau’atu actually do to get banned?
The other massive gripe being thrown around by Queenslanders is the two-match ban handed down to Olakau’atu for getting involved in a melee when he wasn’t even playing. Olakau’atu was in the NSW squad for Game 3 but not part of the playing 17, and was banished from the sideline when he got involved in the scuffle and grabbed Valentine Holmes.
The NRL took a dim view of his actions and banned him for two NRL games, but Corey Parker and Gorden Tallis don’t think it’s enough. “A player not even in the game is getting a two week suspension. It’s completely unacceptable,” Parker said on SEN radio on Friday. “It’s ludicrous. He should get six weeks at least. We cannot have somebody not involved in the game at all being involved in a melee like that. Did he throw a punch? No. But he had Valentine Holmes around his neck.
“If this was Goodna v Brothers down the road and someone was dressed in plain clothes and involved in a melee, they would get a life ban. It can’t happen yet we are happy for a two-game ban to be thrown on Olakau’atu because he’s a player? He didn’t even play in the game. He shouldn’t have been anywhere near it.”
Tallis expressed similar sentiments on NRL 360 on Thursday night, declaring the NRL had to set an example for amateur and grass roots footy that people not involved in a game can’t get involved when things turn nasty. It’s hard to disagree, but can we judge the incident with Olakau’atu on what actually happened? Which is nothing.
As Parker said, there weren’t any punches thrown and no one was injured in the slightest. Olakau’atu is now missing two games for grabbing someone’s shirt. Fair enough the NRL had to make an example out of him, but plenty of people in NSW reckon the ban is very heavy-handed.
As NSW coach Michael Maguire said, it was an example of the squad mentality that the Blues have had all series that Olakau’atu was sticking up for his teammates. It’s not like the Manly forward was a complete random – he played in the first two games of the series.
