The NRL are set to investigate an incident in the tunnel between Newcastle’s Jack Hetherington and Canterbury’s Reed Mahoney in the final minutes of the Bulldogs 36-12 win over the Knights on Sunday.
The contest wasn’t the only thing the Knights lost, with star fullback Kalyn Ponga likely to spend time on the sideline after picking up a “rare” foot injury on a painful day for the visitors.
Vision of the off-field incident shows Hetherington waiting for Mahoney inside the tunnel and dancing around like a boxer before appearing to shove the Canterbury hooker once in the chest. The duo had just been sent to the sin-bin following a series of heated on-field clashes between the rival sets of players.
Knights coach Adam O’Brien was unaware of the incident when quizzed about it, while Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo brushed it off.
“I’ve heard some stuff in there [change rooms] but I don’t think it’s too serious,” Ciraldo said.
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“Jack’s a good fella, I’ve known Jack for a long time, he’s a good guy, sometimes he gets emotional, but he’s a genuinely good person, so I don’t think there’d be too much in it.”
Ponga was the biggest concern on O’Brien’s mind, with the Newcastle No.1 looking unlikely for next week.
“Nothing to do with the hip pointer, it’s in the foot,” O’Brien said. “A ligament in the foot, as far as I know it’s pretty rare, so not great signs for us. I couldn’t tell you exactly what it is, but it’s a ligament that goes down under the foot.
“That muscle is pretty rare apparently, I’ve only had like 30 seconds just to give you guys some sort of information, but similar to like a lisfranc [foot joint], but relatable to that, but not exactly. That’s about as much as I know.”
More to come
Source Agencies
