Tigers striker Solomon Alaimalo discusses the JWH sledge, the incident that “angried” him prior to the dramatic headbutt.
The Tigers forward Stefano Utoikamanu has disclosed the words he used to Jared Waerea-Hargreaves that caused the Roosters enforcer to do something “totally unnecessary,” which could result in a lengthy punishment.
In connection with two different charges from the Roosters’ 26-8 victory over the Wests Tigers on Saturday, one of which was a headbutt on Utoikamanu, Waerea-Hargreaves could be suspended for seven games.
The prop went out of line and caught Tigers skipper Apisai Koroisau’s head with the top of his chest as the Roosters were winning handily.
The blow caused a fight, during which Waerea-Hargreaves was accused of hitting Utoikamanu with what looked to be a headbutt.
On NRL 360, Phil Rothfield of The Daily Telegraph initially disclosed that Waerea-Hargreaves was “baited” by a few Tigers.
Rothfield recalled that during the altercation, “I got told a couple of the Wests Tigers boys said to him ‘you’re washed up, you’re yesterday’s man.'”
“They gave him a boost, and he gave in to it.”
Utoikamanu himself corroborated this, saying he had “tried to get into his head”; apparently, this strategy had been successful.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Utoikamanu stated, “I got angry when I saw him do that hit on Api.”
“Api is our captain, and I made an effort to support him.” Jared is a bit of a grub on the pitch, even though I know he’s a great guy off it. I was kind of hoping to get under his skin.
“I may have made a comment about his age, referring to him as “old,” but it wasn’t intentional. I attempted to enter his mind.
He hit my teeth with his head, which caused him to split. That’s how the cut on his head happened.
“I don’t care if he wants to go [the next time], I’ll go.”
“I’ll always stand by my teammates, especially Api, who leads our team; you should have even greater faith in him.”
The most recent disclosure follows rumours that the Roosters are The front rower has accepted the first three games of his suspension after entering a guilty plea to his grade one hitting charge for the headbutt, according to a statement from the club.
The club will, however, challenge the seriousness of his grade two risky contract accusation.
Should Waerea-Hargreaves succeed, he will only have to pay a fine.
In addition to his verified three games missed, he will miss an additional four games if the judiciary finds him guilty.
Waerea-Hargreaves “got what he deserved” after the game, according to Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall, who also sin-binned him for the incident. If the New Zealand player is unable to properly refute the accusations, he might face an even longer suspension.
Waerea-Hargreaves was sharply criticised by Rothfield for shortchanging his troops at such a critical juncture.
