Details emerged from the “bizarre” NRL trial Tuesday night in which Gold Coast Titans captain Kevin Proctor was found guilty of biting.
Proctor was suspended for four weeks after the nearly three-hour hearing found him guilty of biting Cronulla Shark’s playmaker Shaun Johnson during Saturday’s 14th round game in Sydney.
In the ugly incident, Proctor was sent off the field after cameras showed him with his mouth open on Johnson’s forearm.
The New Zealander is allowed to return in turn 19 when the Titans face off against the Manly Sea Eagles.
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In a fiery tirade on his Six tackles with Gus Podcast, rugby league star Phil Gould repeatedly claimed he lost confidence in the NRL judicial system after the hearing.
“I have absolutely no confidence in the process. They are conducted like murder trials; They are not like NRL justice, ”said Gould.
“I find the whole thing very hollow.
“I have no faith what happened on the field. I think it was totally overplayed. I think it was a total overreaction. From then on, it got out of hand in a trial and everything we went through last night to have.”
Gould also argued that the Judicial Panel should take Johnson’s uncertainty seriously after the incident.
“I have no confidence in the entire process and I think you have made an unsatisfactory judgment,” he said.
“Legally, it is an uncertain verdict based on evidence and statements from last night. I can’t see our game doing this for itself and I have no faith in the system at all.
“When I’m in the judiciary, the only way I can find a player guilty is if the other player comes in front of me and says, ‘He bit me. He bit me.’ This is the only way I could convict him of a bite if he is believable and I have evidence to back it up. But if the player who was “bitten” comes in front of me and says for thought that he doesn’t think it is a bite, he has overlooked it while thinking at that point. And as I said, not his reaction, his initial reaction, his initial reaction during the supposed bite process wasn’t from a man who had been bitten, it was that simple. And I can see that. “
Keep talking NRL 360Fox Sports reporter James Hooper revealed that Johnson fired several “F-bombs” during his fiery testimony.
“He was asked, ‘Why are you changing your melody now? Why did you get up then and say he bit me? Why did you suddenly decide to go in a different direction? ‘”Said Hooper on Wednesday night.
“He paused, got frustrated, and then they just came out.
“I’ve handled a lot of legal cases … but this last night is in the grand finale of the most bizarre, weirdest and quirkiest legal cases I’ve ever seen.”
Hooper also explained how NRL Justice Chairman Geoffrey Bellew “blew up” defense attorney Tim Fuller during the hearing.
“Kevin Proctor’s attorney didn’t know if he was Arthur or Martha last night and Bellew Absolute gave it to him in spades,” said Hooper.
“At one point, Tim Fuller (referee) asked Henry Perenara, ‘Henry, do you think Kevin Proctor bit Shaun Johnson?’ to which Bellew immediately jumped in and said, “Wait, woah woah woah, you are not here to ask his opinion. He is here to describe in detail what is in his report. Come back to the point.”
“So he asked him the same question again in a different way, and Bellew blew in the air.”
Paul Kent of the Daily Telegraph replied, “Poor old Kevin Proctor’s defense didn’t stand a chance.
“He could have argued that the actual load was the wrong one and got off for technical reasons … There is hardly any dangerous contact there.
“He could have argued a number of things, but calling in Shaun Johnson as a defense witness … was a catastrophic mistake.”
Fox Sports presenter Lara Pitt described the entire biting scandal as a “circus”.
“This was a circus even before he went to justice. The whole process was a circus.
“From the moment it happened, until Shaun Johnson acted on the field as if he wished he hadn’t complained, and then it was a debacle.”
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