Broncos winger Ashleigh Werner has been suspended for 2 matches after she was discovered responsible of biting Roosters rival Jayme Fressard on Saturday evening.
The former bobsleigh star was making her NRLW debut when she turned the primary participant despatched off within the competitors’s historical past for an incident within the 54th minute that noticed Fressard instantly complain to referee Wyatt Raymond.
Werner was referred on to the judiciary the place she pleaded not responsible to the harmful contact cost, however was discovered responsible by the panel of Tarsha Gale and Greg McCallum after an 80-minute listening to and only a 12-minute deliberation.
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The two-game ban is as a result of truth the NRLW season is just 9 rounds lengthy and that she acquired a number of glowing character references.
It was a unanimous verdict reached by the panel who based mostly their choice on a number of pictures of Fressard’s harm in addition to the winger’s “immediate and spontaneous reaction” to the “intentional” act.
Werner was distraught as NRL judiciary counsel Lachlan Gyles SC supplied his submissions, adamant that she had achieved nothing fallacious and that she was merely making an attempt to breathe by way of her mouth attributable to a blocked nostril that had plagued her within the days main as much as the sport.
“I had a blocked nose that day,” she informed the panel by way of video hyperlink earlier than she broke down in tears in the direction of the tip of the listening to.
“There is not a single part of me in my life ever that would attempt to hurt, injure or do anything negative to another player.
“I would never, ever, ever go out of my way to hurt anybody. It’s not in my nature.”
Fressard supplied pictures of her left arm from the evening of the sport in addition to recent pictures from Sunday and Monday which confirmed 4 puncture marks, swelling and scabbing as the injuries healed.
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The Roosters winger gave a press release on Monday and doubled down when requested what had occurred.
“I felt a forceful bite into my forearm, to the point that her bottom teeth left a puncture mark on my arm,” she mentioned on Tuesday evening, refuting claims from the defence that she might have suffered the harm at one other level of the competition.
“I felt like a clench on my arm and I had to move my arm out of the tackle.
“The left arm is definitely more swollen in that area (now).”
Werner was represented by Broncos NRLW operations and program supervisor Darren Robb who argued that Fressard was primarily grappling her and utilized strain to her face, stopping his consumer from shifting her head ahead in a biting movement.
“She is gasping for air,” he mentioned, not satisfied that there was any proof of blood on Fressard’s arm.
“So it’s natural that her mouth will be open. There is no intent to clench down and close her mouth if she’s trying to get air into her mouth.”
Werner is the second NRLW participant to be suspended for biting after Madison Bartlett copped a one-week ban for an incident final 12 months and can now miss video games towards the Titans and Cowboys.
Source: www.foxsports.com.au