Im not a lawyer Cleary impressive but judiciary still gives Koroisau one-week ban

Ivan Cleary channelled his inner Dennis Denuto and could not have done any more in his debut as a lawyer at the NRL judiciary â€" but the panel were clearly not feeling the “vibe” as Api Koroisau was found guilty of contrary conduct.

Penrith’s head coach elected to represent Koroisau himself in a bid to have him beat the charge and play in Friday night’s clash against St George Illawarra. His taking the case was likened to that of the character of Denuto, a hapless lawyer in Australian classic The Castle.

Ivan Cleary was unsuccessful in defending Api Koroisau at the NRL judiciary.Credit:Getty

Koroisau landed in hot water for shoving Sydney Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves last Saturday night.

The hooker told the three-man panel of Dallas Johnson, Ben Creagh and Bob Lindner via Zoom from the Sunshine Coast he did not appreciate Waerea-Hargreaves shoving a forearm into the face of his rookie teammate Izack Tago.

“I wasn’t trying to fight the biggest man on the field, I just wanted to let him know what he was doing, trying to pick on a 19-year-old, was not on,” Koroisau said.

Cleary, who started proceedings by apologising for not bringing in a high-flying lawyer, and did not want to be seen “disrespecting the fraternity”, argued the word “melee” was not even in the NRL judiciary code.

“I’m certainly not a lawyer, but I have experience in rugby league.”

Ivan Cleary at the NRL judiciary

Looking cool in designer glasses, Cleary also asked if it was fine to refer to his rake as “Api” rather than “Mr Koroisau”.

Cleary said if anything Koroisau had “defused the melee, if that’s a melee, rather than escalate it”.

And it would have been far worse had Koroisau stood there and not done anything while Tago was being stood over by an experienced but “intimidating foe” like Waerea-Hargreaves.

“I’m certainly not a lawyer, but I have experience in rugby league, and if you go back to the true spirit of the game ... if you look at Tago and see the fear in his eyes, and Waerea-Hargreaves standing above him, there are three things Api could have done,” Cleary said.

Api Koroisau sparked a melee when he ran in and pushed Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.Credit:NRL Photos

“He could have gone over and attacked Waerea-Hargreaves, which we all wouldn’t condone, and that certainly wouldn’t have been in the spirit of the game.

“He could have gone over and did what he did, which was to protect [Tago] and defuse the situation.

“Or he could have done nothing, which I would argue is possibly more against the spirit of the game if he left a young teammate in a vulnerable position against a formidable and intimidating foe.

“This action to support and defuse a potential incident by a senior player on behalf of a junior player, I think we should all be encouraged [by what he did].”

Cleary said, “we think it’s very much a rugby league argument”.

Koroisau said: “I’d seen one of my young players on the ground get pushed in the face with what looked like a forearm, he was in a vulnerable position, so I went it to get Jared off him.”

NRL counsel Peter McGrath said Koroisau did make the situation worse, it was a bad look for the game and “contrary to the true spirit of the game”.

“Whatever you were protecting him [Tago] from was well and truly over ... he took the officiating of the game into his own hands and what he did was calculated to inflame tensions, and it did. It was all unnecessary,” McGrath said.

The Herald reported on Tuesday Cleary was set to become Penrith’s Perry Mason by representing Koroisau.

The Panthers will meet St George Illawarra on Friday night in what could double as Nathan Cleary’s comeback game from a shoulder injury he suffered in Origin II. Tevita Pangai Jr is also set to make his debut for the Panthers after rushing back to Brisbane late last weekend after his partner Anna, who was 24 weeks pregnant, lost their baby.

Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.

Christian Nicolussi covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Share this post