A relieved James Tamou will be granted a possible Leichhardt Oval farewell after successfully downgrading his contrary conduct charge at the NRL judiciary.
Key points:
- Tamou called referee Ben Cummins “f***ing incompetent” during the Tigers’ 72-6 loss to the Roosters
- The 33-year-old is still without a contract for next season
- He pleaded guilty, but successfully challenged the grading of the charge
Off contract and fighting to keep his career alive, the 33-year-old Wests Tigers captain will now cop a one-game ban only and is free to play against Canberra in round 25.
It came after he was forced to sit through 55 minutes of deliberation, awaiting his fate for telling referee Ben Cummins he was “f***ing incompetent” during the Tigers’ 72-6 loss to the Sydney Roosters.
Supported by his wife Brittney and Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe, Tamou admitted on Tuesday night he was “embarrassed and appalled” as he was shown footage of his outburst for the first time in the 80th minute.
He also claimed he had never spoken to a referee like that before and had immediate regret upon leaving the field and hanging his head in his hands in the change rooms.
“In 300 games I have played I have never sworn at a referee,” Tamou said.
“I know their job is hard enough as it is. To let players walk up to them makes it twice as hard.
“I was very remorseful after the game. I wanted to apologise to Ben after the game because I wanted him to know that’s not what I think of him.”
But in evidence tendered to the panel of Bob Lindner and Michael Hagan, NRL counsel Lachlan Gyles claimed the former NSW and Australian Test prop had twice been warned by Cummins before initially being sin-binned.
Gyles also accused Tamou of throwing the toys out of the cot just a minute before the incident, before letting loose at Cummins when he was binned, before being marched for a second spray.
“There is a special responsibility of the captain to treat the referee with respect, and set an example to young players,” Gyles said.
“When we see people like you … acting in the way you did, it’s a bit hard to expect a carpenter in ground nine or a kid in Townsville or Penrith to treat the referee with respect.”
Gyles also pleaded with the panel to issue a strong deterrent to all players and argued Tamou’s character and prior history was irrelevant.
Tamou’s lawyer, Nick Ghabar, pointed to a round 11 incident involving Sydney Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves as proof the grade-three charge against Tamou was too harsh.
In that matter, Waerea-Hargreaves twice swore at referee Gerard Sutton and claimed the official had made a point of penalising him every time he had refereed him.
The Kiwi international was only handed a grade-one charge and accepted a fine.
“That is not on a par with what Tamou did,” Ghabar said.
“It’s actually worse.”
AAP
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