NRL reportedly suspends three stars from wests tigers due to

The match review committee has charged three players from the Gold Coast Titans, New Zealand Warriors, and Wests Tigers following the games on Sunday.

After being sent off for a high tackle on Wests Tigers centre Declan Casey, Warriors youngster Zyon Maiu’u faces a four- to five-game suspension for a Grade 2 reckless high tackle.

Because it is his first offense, Maiu’u will be punished for four games if he enters an early guilty plea, but this could be upped to five if he is found guilty in court.

Two other players have been charged: Samuela Fainu (Wests Tigers) and Klese Haas (Gold Coast Titans).

However, unlike Maiu’u, the duo only face fines of $1000-1500 after being charged with a Grade 1 careless high tackle and Grade 1 contrary conduct, respectively.

The Wests Tigers started the year on a winning note on Sunday afternoon, but it’s likely the Warriors left Christchurch the happier of the two sides after toughing it out with 12 men for an hour of the 18-16 loss.

Warriors forward Zyon Maiu’u was sent off on 20 minutes for a shoulder charge which ended Declan Casey’s game and saw proceedings stopped for several minutes while he received medical attention, after he appeared to have been knocked out.

Leading 12-6 at that stage – after early tries from Alex Seyfarth and Aidan Sezer were scored in between Jacob Laban’s four-pointer for the hosts – the Wests Tigers struggled to rediscover their mojo and took 38 minutes to cross again.

While the overall performance may have been underwhelming, rookie coach Benji Marshall will likely be pleased by what he saw from off-season recruits Sezer and Jayden Sullivan in the halves, with the pair kicking the side around the park well and having some nice moments on the ball.

On the other side of the field the Warriors will take plenty from the defensive grit shown beyond the send off, while Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s first rugby league game in 31 months was a resounding success.

In a 58-minute stretch, RTS made many strong defensive reads out wide, rescued two likely tries with last-ditch tackles, and was generally efficient in possession, averaging just under 10 metres per carry over 13 runs.

After Sione Latoa-Vaihu scored his team’s third try with 22 minutes remaining, the Wests Tigers appeared to be on track, but that was shortly dashed by tries from Paul Roache and Setu Tu.

A botched conversion on Tu’s try gave the Wests Tigers an 18-16 lead, and they held on to win in front of 13,760 at Apollo Projects Stadium.

Tags: Wests Tigers