The NRL have fined the Panthers $50,000 and suspended trainer Corey Bocking for five games after running in front of Jayden Campbell before he missed a crucial conversion on the Gold Coast.
An apologetic Penrith remained adamant on Sunday that the incident had been an accident, with absolutely no intent or malice late in the Panthers’ 30-26 win.
The NRL reviewed the matter before issuing a breach notice, taking into account previous breaches by Penrith Panthers trainers.
In a statement issued by the NRL, it said: “It is alleged the trainer unnecessarily interfered with and distracted Gold Coast Titans player Jayden Campbell as he was attempting a conversion kick, in breach of the NRL Operations Manual and NRL Code of Conduct.
“The NRL Rules permitting Club trainers onto the field will be monitored and strictly enforced by the NRL.”
The club will have five days to respond to the breach notice.
There is a precedent for trainers to be suspended from matches, including Penrith’s Shane Elford and North Queensland’s Mitchell Dunn for squirting water on a ball earlier this year.
After Gold Coast had scored to go ahead 26-24 with five minutes remaining, Bocking ran directly in front of Campbell after the Titans half had lined up his kick.
That prompted Campbell to have to go through his routine again, before missing the shot from the sideline that would have put the Titans four points up.
Nathan Cleary then nailed a superb two-point field goal to send the match to golden point for Penrith, before the Panthers won it with a Blaize Talagi try.
“Did it cost us the game? I don’t know,” Titans coach Des Hasler said of the trainer’s actions.
“He will get breached. That’s the only thing that’s going to come out of it.”
Penrith insisted afterwards the matter had been a mix-up, caused by confusion over an interchange.
Blaize Talagi celebrates the winning try. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
That prompted the Panthers to call Bocking back to their bench to change which player was coming off the field, leading to him running in front of Campbell.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. We had a sub and I changed it at the last minute,” Penrith coach Ivan Cleary said.
“He was trying to communicate with the bench for a late change. There’s a lot of stuff going on.
“That’s why there was a bit of confusion. It was an honest mistake. He apologised straight away.
“I’m happy to say we’ve apologised. It’s not something anyone set out to do.”
In 2021, Penrith physio Peter Green was suspended for incorrectly stopping play late in a semi-final win over Parramatta.
The most recent instance of a trainer being sanctioned for interrupting a kick was in 2022, when the Eels were fined for one disrupting Cleary.
On that occasion Stephen Murphy ran from the Eels huddle and under the posts as Cleary attempted a sideline conversion.
‘Deadpool’ Dolphin Herbie to rise again
The Dolphins will not be deterred by the loss of injured strike centre Herbie Farnworth as they back the regenerative powers they have shown all season.
Farnworth will miss four to six weeks with the hamstring tear he suffered in the 20-18 win over the Warriors, but captain Isaiya Katoa is adamant they will not be using that as an excuse ahead of the home clash with Sydney Roosters on Saturday night.
Farnworth likes to call himself “Deadpool”, in reference to a superhero film where the main character has regenerative powers that heal destroyed organs and tissues at a superhuman rate.
Katoa joked that Farnworth came into training on Monday and said he would be “back next week”. That mindset and “Deadpool” theme has been a reflection of the team and all contracted players this year.
The club has been without 11 front-liners at various stages, including their entire starting forward pack with long-term injury, but they have kept winning and forced their way into the top eight.
“Herbie has a positive mentality and it’s good to have around the group,” Katoa said.
“No one in the competition can play like Herbie and have his impact, but all year we have had that next man up mentality.
Herbie Farnworth. (Photo by Janelle St Pierre/Getty Images)
“We are not going to use that as an excuse this week or going forward. We have had Max (Feagai) and Jake (Averillo) in the centres this year and they have both been able to fill in, so we are not down in confidence in that aspect.
“We know the guys that come in for Herbie are going to do a really good job for us.”
The Dolphins have accepted a two-week suspension for veteran forward Felise Kaufusi, but welcome back barnstorming back-rower Kulikefu Finefeuiaki after a broken thumb.
“He’s definitely on track. He has still got a couple of contact sessions to get through with the thumb, but one thing about Kuli is he is tough,” Katoa said.
“Whether he is feeling the pain or not he probably won’t tell you, and he definitely won’t show it. He will always put his body on the line and has done that the whole year.”
The development of Finefeuiaki and fellow back-rower Oryn Keeley this year, along with a suite of others, is why the Dolphins are the NRL’s “Deadpool” side.
“The credit has got to go to our recruitment and Woolfy (coach Kristian Woolf) in the way they have recruited players to come in with a good attitude to work hard. It is something we built in the pre-season,” Katoa said.
“We don’t get it right the first month, but we knew as a team and a group we were building resilience. We had guys training in all different positions throughout the pre-season, which set us up for this scenario.
“We are losing guys in important positions but not making excuses. We know we can do a job with the players we have.”
Payten fed up with Cowboys surrendering
Todd Payten didn’t mince words when asked to sum up the Cowboys’ latest capitulation.
North Queensland completed just six of 14 sets in the first half of Sunday’s 32-12 loss to Cronulla, gave away five penalties and made seven errors as they fell out of the game in the opening 40 minutes.
They were regularly their own worst enemies, with one Sharks try coming in the set after Robert Derby was penalised for being active in front of the play-the-ball.
“We’re beating ourselves, that’s the simplest way I can put it,” Payten said.
“There aren’t a lot of times this year that we’ve been outplayed. We’ve shot ourselves in the foot too often, and that’s highly frustrating.
“With the weight of possession there and a sin binning in the second half, the score line should have been worse.”
The Cowboys’ tiny playoff chances have now vanished as they sit in 13th spot on the NRL ladder, seven points behind the eighth-placed Dolphins with the Dragons and Tigers jumping ahead of them over the weekend.
They are not out of wooden spoon safety, just three points ahead of last-placed Souths with the Titans, Knights and Eels showing better form in recent weeks than Payten’s side.
Speculation is growing that he will be punted by the Cowboys at the end of the season despite being under contract for next year with former Maroons centre Josh Hannay the favourite to return to the club to turn their fortunes around.
with AAP
