Cameron Smith won’t face any sanctions for on-field suggestions that referee Gerard Sutton was trying to create an “exciting finish” in Melbourne’s NRL’s grand final triumph.
Smith caused a stir in potentially his last NRL match for the remarks, as Penrith fought back from 26-0 down to make it 26-20 with three seconds to play.
The Storm captain was particularly irritated when halfback Jahrome Hughes was sin-binned for taking out Viliame Kikau on a kick chase, before Brandon Smith later followed him off the field.
“I get it, everyone wants an exciting finish. But we are just the same as them,” Smith could be heard saying after the Hughes binning.
“Stop trying to pick little things out of our game to make an exciting finish.”
The NRL’s match review committee did assess the incident, but opted against handing down any charge.
The comments had been compared to those of Panthers coach Ivan Cleary earlier in the year, who suggested Canberra were being “managed” back into a game.
Cleary was handed a $20,000 fine by the NRL at the time, with half of it later suspended.
But it’s understood league central considers comments made on the field as different to those said after a game in a post-match press conference.
Sutton is also believed not to have taken offence to the situation, and had no real issue with the comments.
Meanwhile, Penrith have avoided any further grand final pain, with James Fisher-Harris set to escape a ban for a late tackle on Brandon Smith.
The Panthers prop was put on report for the first-half shot on Smith after he passed the ball, and charged with a grade-one dangerous contact on Monday.
However an early guilty plea will see him avoid any ban.
Had the New Zealand international been given a suspension, the ban would have carried over into the start of next season.
The 24-year-old was the only player charged out of the grand final.
Source:: SportsNews
