Graham to face judiciary on biting charge

Updated October 02, 2012 08:42:08

Canterbury Bulldogs forward James Graham has been referred straight to the NRL judiciary after being charged with biting in Sunday night's grand final loss to Melbourne.

Storm full-back Billy Slater made an official complaint to referee Tony Archer, alleging Graham bit him on the ear after a melee broke out in the 25th minute.

"He bit me in the ear," Slater said, prompting Archer to place the incident on report after noticing blood on the Storm star's ear.

Due to the serious nature of the charge, the dangerous contact charge has been referred straight to the NRL judiciary without a grading.

Graham will face the the judiciary on Thursday night, after the Bulldogs were granted their request to delay the hearing to avoid a clash with their club presentation night.

The English forward's ban is likely to rule him out of upcoming Test matches against Wales and France as well as NRL matches next season.

Video replays appear to clearly show Graham biting Slater on the ear after the pair locked horns in the brawl.

Re-live all the action from the NRL grand final with Grandstand's live blog

In 2007, the Bulldogs' Brad Morrin was hit with an eight-week ban for biting Parramatta's Timana Tahu on the arm.

In the same season, Titans full-back William Zillman was handed a four-week suspension for biting South Sydney's Jamie Simpson, also on the arm.

Bulldogs coach Des Hasler and captain Michael Ennis were not drawn on the incident post match.

"He's on report, we'll have to wait and see on it," said Hasler, who claimed he did not see the incident.

Storm captain Cameron Smith, who accompanied Slater to the referees, highlighted that Slater was adamant he had been bitten.

"Billy came to me and said he felt he had been bitten," he said.

"That was what he felt and we'll have to wait."

Melbourne pair Sisa Waqa and Todd Lowrie and Bulldogs five-eighth Josh Reynolds were also charged with fighting.

Waqa and Lowrie can serve a week suspension during next season's trial matches and Reynolds can escape any suspension with an early guilty plea.

Tags: nrl, rugby-league, sport, canterbury-2193, nsw, australia, melbourne-3000, vic

First posted October 01, 2012 12:11:54

View the original article here

Graham guilty of biting charge

Updated October 04, 2012 21:49:24

The Bulldogs' grand final hangover got worse on Thursday night after forward James Graham was found guilty of biting the Storm's Billy Slater and banned for 12 matches.

In a hearing that went for more than two hours in total, video of the incident was shown to the judiciary.

Graham was questioned both by his own defence counsel and by NRL prosecutor Peter Kite, declaring his innocence throughout.

He also called former Parramatta and New Zealand NRL coach Daniel Anderson as a character witness.

The evidence and statements portion of the hearing went for 90 minutes - after 10 minutes' deliberation, the panel returned a guilty verdict against the Bulldogs player.

The length of the suspension was then discussed, including reference to comparable incidents, before further deliberations and then the final decision was handed down.

Graham will miss 12 matches - which will likely include two trial games and two England internationals. The earliest he will be available to play NRL is likely to be round nine next year.

Outside the hearing Graham did not speak - Greenberg made a brief statement and took no questions.

"We're extremely disappointed with the result," Greenberg said.

He told reporters that the club and Graham had gone to the hearing not to spin events, but to tell the truth.

Goldberg said Graham had declared his innocence and the chief executive had had "no hesitation" in putting his own and the club's reputation on the line by supporting the appeal.

"We were afforded a fair and just process, we disagree with the result but not with the process," Goldberg said.

"James is obviously shattered with the result - he will miss the chance to captain his country," he said, adding that Graham would miss a substantial part of next season for the Bulldogs.

The biting incident occurred in the 25th minute of the grand final between the Bulldogs and Melbourne, following the Bulldogs' only try of the match to Sam Perrett.

A melee formed after Melbourne full-back Slater was pushed to the ground.

Slater and Graham ended up wrestling surrounded by a pack of players, and it was alleged that Graham bit Slater's left ear.

The England international surprised many by pleading not guilty to an ungraded dangerous contact offence, given that TV footage from the game appeared to clearly show Graham biting Slater's ear.

The charge had been referred straight to the NRL judiciary because of its serious nature.

By opting against a guilty plea, Graham was ineligible for a 25 per cent reduction of the final penalty.

Earlier this week Greenberg had admitted the footage of Graham's alleged attack on Slater was "damning".

"It's difficult obviously because the pictures are quite damning," Greenberg told Triple M radio on Tuesday.

The penalty was more severe than the two most recent incidents of biting in the NRL.

Gold Coast full-back William Zillman received a four-match ban in 2009, while two years earlier former Bulldogs forward Brad Morrin was banned for eight matches.

Tags: sport, rugby-league, sydney-2000, nsw, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted October 04, 2012 21:21:26

View the original article here