Guerra in bid to free Hodgo
AIDAN Guerra will appear at the NRL judiciary tonight in a bid to save Broncos skipper Justin Hodges for Sunday night’s grand final against the Cowboys.
News Corp Australia can reveal the Broncos will leverage Guerra’s Queensland Origin ties with Hodges to ensure the retiring centre leads Brisbane on to ANZ Stadium in the NRL decider.
The development comes as NRL match-review committee boss Michael Buettner, the man who charged Hodges, revealed Guerra’s testimony could be decisive at the judiciary hearing.
The Broncos yesterday declared they would fight for Hodges, who was reported for spear-tackling Guerra in the 57th minute of Brisbane’s preliminary final defeat of the Roosters.
In the wake of the loss, Guerra admitted he tried to attract a penalty – and the Roosters hardman is now ready to formally testify in support of his Maroons teammate.
Guerra’s appearance shapes as Brisbane’s trump card and Buettner says the strength of the Rooster’s version of events could help Hodges beat the odds.
“In terms of the judiciary process, I have no doubt Guerra’s position would be taken into account, especially if his comments in the media are formalised by him attending the hearing,” Buettner said.
“That would be regarded as evidence. Then it would be up to the panel to decipher it and decide whether Hodges did enough to contribute to the tackle – or whether Guerra was the main contributor and Hodges was a victim of circumstances.
“Aidan Guerra has said he contributed to the incident and that may be a fair case to put forward.” Meanwhile, Roosters CEO Brian Canavan said the club had no issues with Guerra supporting Hodges.
“Aidan has fielded a request from the Broncos to appear at the judiciary,” he said.
“At this stage, there’s been no formal decision but if Aidan wishes to support Justin, we would not stand in his way.”
Buettner and Michael Hodgson, both former NRL players, reviewed the Hodges incident and said his charging with a grade-one dangerous throw was a “no brainer”.
Buettner also defended cries of inconsistency between the match-review committee and the judiciary, saying Hodges had every right to mount a strong defence.
“The big thing is the judiciary gets to hear the players’ version of events,” he said.
“I was the bloke who charged Hodges, and it is what it is.
“Every other week of the season it would have attracted the same charge. Emotion does need to come out of it and we as the match-review committee are the first step in the process.
“I get that it’s a grand final and it’s Hodgo’s last game, but we get no satisfaction from the possibility of him missing a grand final.
“We have a job to do and we simply follow the process.
“If you examine the key factors in a dangerous throw, it was a no-brainer.”
Broncos enforcer Sam Thaiday urged the NRL judiciary to give Hodges the green light for his grand-final swan song.
“I’ve got every confidence Hodgo will be fine, if commonsense prevails he will get off and be there leading us out on Sunday,” he said.
Brisbane halfback Ben Hunt added: “It would be devastating to lose Hodgo, we are all hoping for the best.
“If he doesn’t get through we’re all going to be shattered but we have to get on with the job and whoever would step in would be able to handle the job.”