Warriors hooker set to face ban

Warriors hooker Freddy Lussick faces a ban of up to eight weeks for a sickening challenge that left South Sydney halfback Lachlan Ilias with a broken leg.

Lussick was placing kick pressure on Ilias but made contact with his right leg as he was kicking the ball, resulting in a horrific fracture that could be heard across Sydney’s Accor Stadium on Saturday.

The incident occurred in the final seconds of the New South Wales Cup clash between the Rabbitohs and Warriors that preceded the NRL match between the same two sides.

Warriors coach Andrew Webster said yesterday that the club would look to fight the charge.

“I think it’s probably pretty silly to defend Freddy through the media, we’ll do that on Wednesday night when we get that opportunity,” he said.

Rather than be given a grading for a charge, Lussick has been handed the more serious infringement of being referred straight to the NSWRL judiciary, with the hearing to take place tonight. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Lussick is set for a ban of between six and eight weeks for the challenge gone wrong.

Lussick’s challenge may have looked clumsy or even accidental but the rule states the onus is on the defender to not attack the legs of a player kicking the ball.

“No surprise it’s a fracture. I’m sure I heard the snap from 20 metres away,” commentator Greg Alexander told Fox League.

Ugly scenes followed, with a South Sydney player attacking Lussick when he was on the ground, and an all in push and shove developed, as Ilias lay prone nearby.

Despite the match being over, Lussick was sent off and Warriors centre Moala Graham-Taufa was sent to the sin bin for his part in the resulting melee.

Meanwhile, the Warriors NRL side suffered an injury blow against the Rabbitohs when prop Bunty Afoa went off with hamstring strain that is set to keep him out for up to two months.

Webster has named two of the five frontline players that missed last weekend’s match in the team for their home match against Manly this Saturday. Winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and forward Kurt Capewell have both been included.