The Sea Eagles have confirmed that Haumole Olakau’atu and Daly Cherry-Evans have taken early guilty pleas for their role in a dangerous tackle on Parramatta back rower Shaun Lane.
Both Olakau’ata and Cherry-Evans received Grade 2 Dangerous Throw charges and offered two-match bans, however the Sea Eagles have only accepted the two-game suspension with Olakau’atu.
Manly has submitted a guilty plea for Cherry-Evans “but will be disputing the grading to try and get a downgrade to a Grade 1 charge” according to a club-issued statement.
In that case there’s a chance that Cherry-Evans will have a week shaved off his suspension.
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In the fourth minute of the Round 8 contest, Olakau’atu was put on report for his involvement in a lifting tackle on Lane, who landed on the turf near his neck.
The Eels second-rower was in immediate discomfort, grabbing at the back of his back and consulting a team doctor for several minutes. Groans echoed around the venue when replays of the incident were shown on the big screens, with Lane substituted off the field.
After match officials consulted replays, Olakau’atu was put on report and sin-binned to leave the Sea Eagles with 12 men for the following ten minutes.
“There’s a fair bit of force in it,” referee Gerard Sutton was overheard telling Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans, who also played a role in the lifting tackle.
“It’s a dangerous tackle mate.”
Manly coach Anthony Seibold argued in his post-game press conference that Olakau’atu should not be suspended for his role in the incident.
“I thought it was an accident,” Seibold said.
“It wasn’t like a typical lifting tackle. He hit him through the stomach, which is a really good tackle. And then Chez was on top.
“He did land in an unfortunate position. But he came back on and played the rest of the game. I thought 10 minutes was sufficient for the tackle, so hopefully nothing more comes with that.”
“I definitely had a role in the tackle,” Cherry-Evans added.
“It just overcompensated what was happening in the tackle. Ten minutes in the bin was probably fair. I’d like to think that’s hopefully all and we’ll move on.”
Elsewhere, Maika Sivo is only looking at a fine with the early plea for his elbow on Reuben Garrick.
Tags: Haumole Olakauatu takes match ban Daly CherryEvans challenge grading video highlights reaction dangerous throw Shaun Lane
