BREAKING: Storm enforcer set to miss GF as NRL comes down hard ...
Storm enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona is set to miss the grand final after being hit with a suspension for his high shot that forced Roosters forward Lindsay Collins out of Friday night’s preliminary final.
Asofa-Solomona was sent to the sin bin for the hit, which was deemed by the NRL’s match review committee on Saturday morning to be a grade three careless high tackle.
As a result, Asofa-Solomona is facing a four-game suspension even with the early guilty plea.
He will be banned five games if he fights the charge and is unsuccessful.
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Asofa-Solomona's only hope of playing in the grand final is if he is able to successfully downgrade the charge to grade one, which would only result in a fine.
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Collins would have also likely missed the Grand Final if the Roosters made it after being ruled out with a category one concussion from the tackle in the Storm’s 48-18 win.
Asofa-Solomona appeared to catch Collins on the chin with his shoulder in a fiery first tackle that resulted in a sin bin as chaos broke loose at AAMI Park.
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Michael Ennis knew Asofa-Solomona was in trouble straight away.
“Oh yeah that is shoulder contact right to the jaw,” Ennis said in commentary on Fox League.
“Yes he did lower his body position, but here we go Nelson has been called out.”
Referee Grant Atkins wasted no time in sending the Storm enforcer to the sin bin, while Collins went off for a HIA and was later ruled out for the rest of the game.
“It is on report, dangerous contact to the head and no mitigation, in the bin,” Atkins said.
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Corey Parker defended Asofa-Solomona given that it was the first tackle of the game and players never go low at that speed.
“I don’t know where else he can go,” Parker said.
“You can’t go low there. You just can’t when one person is going as fast as they can into the defensive line you cannot go low, particularly when there is three players converging on one.
“I don’t understand where he can go.”
However, Greg Alexander believed Asofa-Solomona was in trouble under the rules and called for changes to the kick-off to protect both teams from injury and suspension.
“The fact is he hit him in the head,” Alexander said.
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“I agree with you and we had this situation last week with Manly and the Roosters where Tolu Koula got his head in the wrong spot.
“I think a whole lot of thought needs to go into the kick-off. Its dangerous, but it is as dangerous for the attackers as it is for the defenders.
“Nelson standing upright just comes into the tackle, but he hits him in the head.
“He plays the ball backwards, so a category one for Lindsay Collins and gone for the game.
“Nelson is fortunate he is not gone for the game.”
Cooper Cronk agreed Asofa-Solomona would likely face a ban given how referees have ruled on head high contact in 2024.
“I agree it is contact to the head,” Cronk said.
“There is not much in it. We can debate around the nuances of everything, but those are the rules as they are in place right now.”
