League great Johnathan Thurston believes Jordan Riki was lucky to have only be sin binned after fiery incident which also led to Latrell Mitchell going off for 10 minutes.
The Broncos second-rower collected Cameron Murray high and off the ball with Mitchell coming in from a long distance to be involved in a melee.
Mitchell was first to be binned with referee Adam Gee saying he escalated the situation, before Riki was also given 10 during Souths’ win.
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Post-game, Murray said it “looked worse than it was”.
“I’m fine … he didn’t get me in the head or anything so I’m all good,” he said on Nine’s coverage.
With Mitchell in contention for Origin, Thurston believes he’ll have nothing to be worried about while stating Riki deserved a bigger punishment.
“Obviously he (Latrell) was sticking up for his teammate but also a little bit of frustration there, I think that’s just the referee trying to take control so things don’t flair, he said.
“I thought the Jordan Riki incident deserved more than 10 minutes in the bin, I thought it was direct and forceful contact to the head so I do believe that should’ve been a send off given what’s happened over the last few weeks with head contact.”
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Fellow analyst Allana Ferguson agreed.
“That was definitely a send off,” she said.
“The thing with Latrell was I think that 10 in the bin was warranted because in that first picture you saw the incident happen with Riki and Murray, he’s not in the frame, he ran a fair (distance) to be involved in that moment so there’s passion, there’s sticking up for your teammates but in the big games and in an Origin game, do you want that? … is there a degree where he needs to reign it in? Probably.”
In his post-game press conference, Broncos coach Kevin Walters conceded Riki was lucky to not have been sent off.
“I thought he was lucky to stay on the field,” he said.
”… he was a bit off tonight, he’d be the first one to admit that, we’ll have a discussion with him but his effort was good he just didn’t have his head in the right space tonight.
“I don’t think he’ll get suspended, I thought a send-off would’ve been sufficient, but we need everyone on deck particularly with two more Origins.”
While the general consensus was around a longer period off the field for Riki, Maroons coach Billy Slater wasn’t sure if the contact was as bad as people though.
“I’m not so sure it was direct contact with the head, I think the whiplash certainly got some contact with the head,” he said.
“It looked really bad. That’s what instigated the whole thing, Latrell obviously feels his teammate has been dealt unfairly and he’s gone in there to support him.
“To be honest I thought the referee handled it pretty good … there was no more flair ups in the game, the game was still even, I think move on.”
League great Johnathan Thurston believes Jordan Riki was lucky to have only be sin binned after fiery incident which also led to Latrell Mitchell going off for 10 minutes.
The Broncos second-rower collected Cameron Murray high and off the ball with Mitchell coming in from a long distance to be involved in a melee.
Mitchell was first to be binned with referee Adam Gee saying he escalated the situation, before Riki was also given 10 during Souths’ win.
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Post-game, Murray said it “looked worse than it was”.
“I’m fine … he didn’t get me in the head or anything so I’m all good,” he said on Nine’s coverage.
With Mitchell in contention for Origin, Thurston believes he’ll have nothing to be worried about while stating Riki deserved a bigger punishment.
“Obviously he (Latrell) was sticking up for his teammate but also a little bit of frustration there, I think that’s just the referee trying to take control so things don’t flair, he said.
“I thought the Jordan Riki incident deserved more than 10 minutes in the bin, I thought it was direct and forceful contact to the head so I do believe that should’ve been a send off given what’s happened over the last few weeks with head contact.”
Watch the 2024 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now.
Fellow analyst Allana Ferguson agreed.
“That was definitely a send off,” she said.
“The thing with Latrell was I think that 10 in the bin was warranted because in that first picture you saw the incident happen with Riki and Murray, he’s not in the frame, he ran a fair (distance) to be involved in that moment so there’s passion, there’s sticking up for your teammates but in the big games and in an Origin game, do you want that? … is there a degree where he needs to reign it in? Probably.”
In his post-game press conference, Broncos coach Kevin Walters conceded Riki was lucky to not have been sent off.
“I thought he was lucky to stay on the field,” he said.
”… he was a bit off tonight, he’d be the first one to admit that, we’ll have a discussion with him but his effort was good he just didn’t have his head in the right space tonight.
“I don’t think he’ll get suspended, I thought a send-off would’ve been sufficient, but we need everyone on deck particularly with two more Origins.”
While the general consensus was around a longer period off the field for Riki, Maroons coach Billy Slater wasn’t sure if the contact was as bad as people though.
“I’m not so sure it was direct contact with the head, I think the whiplash certainly got some contact with the head,” he said.
“It looked really bad. That’s what instigated the whole thing, Latrell obviously feels his teammate has been dealt unfairly and he’s gone in there to support him.
“To be honest I thought the referee handled it pretty good … there was no more flair ups in the game, the game was still even, I think move on.”
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