NRL to investigate claims South Sydney Rabbitohs had 14 players on the field against Broncos
NRL to investigate claims the South Sydney Rabbitohs had 14 players on the field in a big win over the Brisbane Broncos on Friday night
- Rabbitohs defeated Broncos 32-6
- Had too many players on the field for a while
- NRL to investigate with whatever penalty
The NRL are looking into the South Sydney Rabbitohs’ huge victory over the Brisbane Broncos on Friday night amid allegations that the Bunnies briefly had 14 players on the field.
The incident occurred in the second half when Thomas Burgess left the field to make way for Jai Arrow. During the exchange, the Rabbitohs had both men on the field for about 15 seconds.
Vision shows Burgess playing the ball after a hit with Arrow running onto the field in backplay.
Only after Burgess had played the ball and Arrow was already on the field did the Englishman run over the sideline.
Two plays later, Arrow stormed into the defensive line.
This came when the Broncos were at a disadvantage with only 12 players on the field due to Herbie Farnworth’s sin-binning for tripping, and they trailed 22-6.
The NRL is investigating claims the South Sydney Rabbitohs had too many players on the pitch in the second half of the big win over the Brisbane Broncos
Rabbitohs player Jai Arrow (circled left) ran onto the pitch as the man he was to replace Thomas Burgess (circled right) played through
The Rabbitohs had big 32-6 winners over the Broncos, but the NRL is now investigating the exchange incident.
The ground manager and exchange officer will be interviewed by the NRL to determine how the incident could have happened.
Previously, clubs were fined or even withheld league points for fielding too many players at once.
As the breech is considered minor, Souths are unlikely to lose the valuable game points they accumulated in the big win.