Melbourne Storm prop forward Brett White has tonight been unsuccessful in having his striking charge downgraded and will miss a total of 4 NRL matches.

Originally set to miss only 3 weeks with a guilty plea, White and his legal team decided to challenge the grading and felt that due to the provocation of Ben Ross striking Cooper Cronk – a reaction was somewhat justified.

The judiciary panel of Bob Lindner, Darrell Williams and Royce Ayliffe felt that White had acted somewhat like a vigilante and had plenty of time to ‘think about’ his actions before deciding to attack Ben Ross.

The ruling should have a knock-on effect for players contemplating running in to defend teammates – as it seems the 3rd man into brawls will not be tolerated by the NRL or referees.

By ricky

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