NRL finals: South Sydney's Cody Walker opens up on ref pushing controversy

Adam Lucius

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NRL finals: South Sydney's Cody Walker opens up on ref pushing controversy image

A cool and composed reaction from referee Gerard Sutton saved South Sydney five-eighth Cody Walker from joining the list of players charged for making contact with match officials.

A crackdown in 2016 saw a host of NRL stars – led by Tyson Frizell – charged by the match review committee for making even the slightest contact with referees.  

Frizell was controversially suspended for one match for touching referee Chris James.

Ironically, the Dragons back-rower was in the thick of the incident that led to Walker making contact with Sutton late in the Rabbitohs’ thrilling one-point win over St George Illawarra in Saturday night’s elimination semi-final. 

The Rabbitohs playmaker was penalised for failing to get off the tackled Frizell as a war of words erupted at the play-the-ball.

Walker shoved the Dragons backrower in anger, accidentally collecting Sutton in the side.

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Commentators on both Fox Sports and Channel 9 made mention of the incident, with Phil Gould declaring: “Well, the ref got hit here.”

Sutton spun around quickly and told Walker to get away from the ruck, but clearly deemed the contact accidental.

The match review committee backed Sutton’s assertion, ruling Walker had no case to answer. 

“I didn’t even realise he (Sutton) was there. I pushed Frizell in the heat of the moment,” Walker told Sporting News.

“I knew there was a little bit of chat there (about collecting Sutton) but there was nothing in it.

“The refs didn’t say anything to me straight after it so I didn’t think I had anything to worry about.”

But not all fans saw it the same way.

 

Adam Lucius