NSW winger Jarryd Hayne has been rubbed out of Origin II after failing to have his grade-two dangerous throw charge reduced at the NRL judiciary tonight.
The Parramatta speedster was slapped with a three-match ban which will see him miss Game II of the Origin series at Suncorp Stadium, along with two NRL club games.
Hayne was charged with a grade two offence for his upending tackle on Brisbane’s Tonie Carroll last Friday, the incident occurring in the 19th minute and after the referee had blown his whistle.
Hayne tried to convince the panel to downgrade the offence to a grade one – and therefore escape a ban – but the panel did not accept his reasons and he was hit with 325 penalty points equating to a three-game ban.
A visibly upset Hayne was shattered after the hearing.
“It’s pretty much my series over,” said Hayne.
“I won’t get to play another game before the next one (Origin).”
He will be available for the third game in Sydney on July 2 but won’t have another club game to press for NSW selection.
It is a bitter blow to Hayne, 20, who claimed his upending tackle on Carroll only became dangerous because his teammates pulled out but he hadn’t because he did not hear the whistle.
However his argument fell on deaf ears and not even his claims at being a rugby league “clean skin” with an incident free record over 15 years of playing the game could help convince the panel to lower his grade two charge to one and escape suspension.
Hayne insisted he entered the tackle to lift the legs of Carroll, believing his three teammates grappling with the body would ensure the tackle did not end up dangerous.
However as the three Eels heard the whistle and stopped wrestling with Carroll, an oblivious Hayne continued, resulting in a dangerous lifting motion which slammed the Bronco forward onto his head.
“I did not hear the whistle whatsoever,” said Hayne.
“I did not realise until the replay the whistle had gone and the boys had let him go.
“My head was down facing the ground so I had no vision of the other players.”
But while prosecutor Peter Kite accepted Hayne did not hear the whistle, he argued the Eels star was wrong to assume his teammates would prevent a dangerous tackle and should take full blame for such an ugly incident.
“Player Hayne is not allowed to adopt a strategy reliant on other people preventing a dangerous tackle, he has to prevent it,” said Kite.
“Player Carroll was completely unsuspecting and therefore unable to defend himself in anyway.”
It took almost 45 minutes for them to decide to result but ultimately dealt Hayne a three-game suspension.
He is not the only Origin star to be rubbed out of the second game as Queensland’s Justin Hodges accepted a six-week ban for an uglier lifting tackle on Mark Riddell in the same spiteful clash last Friday.
Canberra centre Joel Monaghan was yesterday brought into the NSW squad as a stand-by for Mark Gasnier who is battling a hamstring injury, but is now shaping as Hayne’s most likely replacement.
Should Gasnier be ruled out, NSW selectors are believed to be considering handing Penrith utility Luke Lewis a call up, while Melbourne flyer and specialist winger Steve Turner could also come into the equation.