Reigning NRL premiers Penrith have suffered another blow in their season of struggle, with valuable back-rower Scott Sorensen hit with a three-game suspension.
Sorensen said he was disappointed by the verdict after he headed to the judiciary on Tuesday accompanied by coach Ivan Cleary and Panthers football manager Matt Cameron.
He was seeking a downgrade to a grade-two shoulder charge after the 32-year-old had been cited for an illegal hit on Manly prop Nathan Brown in the Panthers’ 26-10 loss on Saturday.
If successful in having his charge reduced to grade one, Sorensen would have escaped with a $1000 fine and would have been free to play Brisbane at Magic Round on Sunday.
But the trade-off was that the New Zealand Test forward, who pleaded guilty to the tackle and was sin-binned by referee Belinda Sharpe on the night, risked adding a further one-week suspension to a two-game ban.
And Penrith’s worst-case scenario came to fruition after just 15 minutes of deliberation by the panel of Bob Lindner and ex-referee Sean Hampstead, who upheld the match review committee’s grade-two charge.
“It’s disappointing. I completely understand the process and what’s happened,” Sorensen told AAP.
“Our club here at Penrith, I appreciate their support through it all and, as I say, it’s disappointing but that’s the way it goes.
Sorensen will now miss games against Brisbane, North Queensland and Newcastle, at a time when the Panthers’ season (2-6) is on life support.
Bottom-placed Penrith will have to defy history if they are to make it to September, given that over the past 30 years no team placed last from round eight onwards has recovered to make the finals.
The absence of Sorensen is another headache for Penrith coach Cleary, but the suspended forward is backing his teammates to turn a corner.
“I have complete faith in our team and our squad, who are excited and ready to prepare for a big game on Sunday,” Sorensen said.
“Unfortunately I won’t be there, but I’ll be doing everything I can to make sure they are prepared and ready to go.”
The NRL’s legal representative Patrick Knowles argued across an hour-long hearing that Brown had no time to react and protect himself from a shoulder charge.
Knowles said Sorensen’s shoulder charge could have had far greater consequences – Brown suffered no known injury – and argued the grading was higher because of the potential risk to the Manly forward
Sorensen’s lawyer, Nick Ghabar, unsuccessfully argued that Brown, who sprinted 25m before making contact at top speed, contributed to the force of the collision with both his velocity and late footwork at the line.
He said Sorensen’s attempts to wrap his right arm were an indication of the care he showed for himself and Brown.
But that did not wash with the panel, who stuck solid with the match review committee’s findings.
Bench forward Mavrik Geyer looms as the most likely replacement for Sorensen in Sunday’s clash with Brisbane.
Sorensen will be free to return in the Panthers’ round 13 clash with bitter rivals Parramatta
