NRL Judiciary Round 18: Dale Finucane and Alex Twal banned, Jarome Luai escapes suspension

Joshua Mayne

Liam O'Loughlin

NRL Judiciary Round 18: Dale Finucane and Alex Twal banned, Jarome Luai escapes suspension image

Cronulla and St. George Illawarra faced off in a high-scoring affair to open Round 18 and whilst the Sharks took the win, they will have to do without Dale Finucane for the next two weeks.

The skipper was charged for a dangerous throw on Blake Lawrie and will be joined on the sidelines by Wests Tigers prop Alex Twal, who also copped a ban for a hip drop tackle. 

The Sporting News wraps up every judiciary charge from Round 18 of the NRL.

MORE: Hunt feels Dragons are 'getting worse' after Sharks shellacking

Dale Finucane suspended for dangerous throw

Finucane will miss the next two matches after entering an early guilty plea with the 31-year-old tipping Lawrie beyond the horizontal. 

He will miss Cronulla's Round 19 meeting with the Tigers and the following match against the New Zealand Warriors, before he will be available for selection again in Round 21 against Manly. 

Alex Twal part of Tigers trio charged after horror loss

If losing 74-0 to the Cowboys wasn't enough, three Tigers players were charged by the NRL judiciary.

Although Twal was the only one to cop a suspension after he was cited with a grade two dangerous contact charge.

The 26-year-old cult hero was sin-binned for the incident involving Luciano Leilua and will now miss his side's clash against the Sharks. 

Isaiah Papali'i (grade one dangerous contact) and Jake Simpkin (grade one dangerous throw) were also cited following the defeat, but will be free to play after entering early guilty pleas.

Earlier on Saturday, Raiders prop Emre Guler was hit with a grade one crusher tackle, but has escaped with a $1000 fine. 

Matt Burton dodges suspension

Bulldogs half Matt Burton has avoided a ban following his side's 66-0 loss to the Knights.

The 23-year-old was charged with dangerous contact on Bradman Best and will now pay a $1,800 fine. 

Two players fined after hard-fought Sea Eagles-Roosters clash

Despite the competitive nature of the contest, things never really boiled over between the Sea Eagles and Roosters on Sunday afternoon.

Two players have been fined for dangerous contact though, with Manly winger Christian Tuipulotu ($750) and Triocolours forward Naufahu Whyte ($1,000) entering early guilty pleas.

Tautau Moga fined after high tackle on Jesse Ramien

There wasn't too much fanfare following Moga's 80th-minute high tackle on Ramien, but the Dragons centre has copped a $1,000 fine for the incident.

Addin Fonua-Blake fined after first high tackle offence

Addin Fonua-Blake's careless high contact on Cameron Murray in the 33rd minute would result in a sin-bin sending his Warriors into a spiral.

However, he was issued with just a $1,000 fine after accepting an early guilty plea. 

Taane Milne faces large fine after multiple offences

Taane Milne's dangerous contact against Luke Metcalf means he will be fined $3,000 after he took the early guilty plea.

This is Milne's third dangerous tackle offence of this season with this a recurring issue across his career.

Panthers duo Jarome Luai and Izack Tago receive fines

Luai will incur a fine of $1800 with this being his second dangerous contact charge whilst Tago will be fined $1500 for his first shoulder charge offence.

Both players inflicted their damage on Storm halfback Jahrome Hughes.

Joshua Mayne

Joshua Mayne Photo

Joshua Mayne is a content producer for The Sporting News Australia based in Sydney, Australia. He has previously worked as a newsreader at 2SER and journalist at Ministry of Sport. While Joshua’s main passions are football, rugby league, basketball and F1, he will watch any sport that's on. He is still waiting for Arsenal to win the Premier League again. 

 

Liam O'Loughlin

Liam O'Loughlin Photo

Liam has been with The Sporting News since 2019, helping lead both NRL and cricket content, as well as delving into the world of combat sports and NFL. A true rugby league tragic, he has spent the past 20 years playing, coaching and volunteering for his beloved junior club, Penshurst RSL. 

Away from work, Liam has a lifelong passion for all things pro wrestling and has travelled abroad to attend showcase events for WWE, AEW and NJPW.