Phoenix Crossland Banned for Four Games and Will Miss the Grand Final
Phoenix Crossland will not play in the grand final he helped Newcastle reach. The Knights hooker pleaded guilty at the NRL judiciary on Tuesday over the hip-drop tackle that broke Nathan Cleary’s leg, and was suspended for four games — his club’s counsel had argued for no more than three.
The ban costs him Sunday. It also costs him all three of New Zealand’s World Cup pool matches, against Australia, the Cook Islands and Fiji.
The phone call
Crossland was sent off in the 36th minute of Newcastle’s preliminary final win for the tackle, which left Cleary with a compound fracture and a dislocated ankle. Penrith staff had to hold his left foot in place to get him off the field, and he had emergency surgery at Royal North Shore Hospital that night.
“I called him yesterday. It was obviously a tough phone call,” Crossland said. “He’s my favourite player in the game by a mile. He’s the best player in the game and I look up to him. It’s killing me. It’s been the worst couple of days of my life. It’s meant to be the best week of my life and it’s been far from it.”
By Crossland’s account Cleary told him not to worry about it, that he understood it was an accident, and — in the end — to stop saying sorry. “Apologies to everyone involved in the game,” Crossland added. “If I could change the circumstances in any way, I would.”
What it does to Newcastle’s side
Crossland started every finals match of this campaign. Harrison Graham is expected to shift into the starting hooking role, with a spot on the bench going to one of the reserves. It is not a small change: the hooker sets the tempo out of dummy-half, and Newcastle’s whole finals run has been built on scrambling defence and quick play-the-balls rather than on possession.
The Roosters, by contrast, named an unchanged side. Utility Connor Watson failed a head injury assessment in Brisbane on Friday and was named on the bench pending an independent neurologist’s clearance later in the week.
Kick-off is 7:30pm AEDT on Sunday 4 October at Accor Stadium. It is Newcastle’s first grand final since 2001 — a twenty-five year wait.
