Eight word slip up condemns stars fate

In a marathon two-and-a-half-hour hearing and an hour-long deliberation, Walsh was found guilty of abusing the referee and slapped with a three-game suspension.Watch every game of every round of the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >It means the Broncos fullback will miss Brisbane’s NRL game against the Dolphins this Saturday, State of Origin Game III on July 12th and the Broncos’ clash with the Bulldogs in Round 20 after their bye.During the hearing Gold Coast Titans enforcer Fifita was called in and attempted to back up and clear a path for Walsh’s freedom by explaining he wasn’t directing his expletive outburst towards the ref, instead it was at Broncos teammate Patrick Carrigan.Unfortunately it all fell apart when he let eight words slip and then attempted to blame it all on nerves.“He said to the ref … I mean Patty,” he said.Asked to clarify his comments, Fifita said: “I didn’t mean that. I just get nervous … I get intimidated by speaking to you guys because I think I’m in the wrong.“I reached out (to Walsh). I just said if you need me to do anything let me know. We just spoke about how he was wronged. I knew he wasn’t talking to the ref.“It was me who said to Walshy he wasn’t speaking to the ref. I knew he was talking to Patty because I was right there.”Walsh strongly denied his expletive-laden outburst was directed towards referee Chris Butler, a stance the NRL judiciary said was “demonstrably untrue”.The NRL counsel may have summed up the whole saga best, saying: “Even if (words) aren’t directed towards referee, they were directed at the referee’s on-field ruling of a penalty.”Tuesday night’s judiciary hearing began at 6.30pm AEST and heard evidence from Butler that Walsh had been questioning his decisions all game long.After an obstruction call in the second half, based on Walsh’s body language he was marched 10 metres.“I could hear he was saying something but didn’t hear what. He was warned about similar behaviour just before halftime,” Butler said.Butler warned Broncos captain Adam Reynolds at halftime that Walsh needed to watch himself.“Reece keeps coming at me,” Butler told Reynolds.“Three times he’s come out really passionate about decisions. Can’t continue.”The judiciary argued Carrigan and Walsh had spoken in a bid to “get their stories straight”.“Some of Walsh’s evidence was demonstrably untrue,” the judiciary said.“You wouldn’t give great weight to Carrigan’s evidence of where Walsh was looking.“All players have spoken about their evidence before speaking it tonight.“Give weight to the video evidence here tonight and give greatest weight to your own common sense.”The defence argued: “None of the NRL’s case is based on what the referee said …. the referee’s report is first port of call. Not once did the NRL’s address refer you to the referee’s report.” Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au