Bulldogs enforcer Viliame Kikau has been found not guilty at the NRL judiciary over a tackle on Mitchell Moses that saw the Eels halfback accused of milking a penalty on Monday.
The backrower collected Moses’ legs in the act of kicking and was sin binned before the penalty ultimately cost Canterbury six points.
Kikau was originally facing an $1800 fine with an early guilty plea for dangerous contact but he fought the charge on Tuesday night and got off.
The incident took place at the beginning of a long play which starting with the Moses kick and ended with a soccered effort from Josh Addo-Carr that almost led to a try.
However, referee Gerard Sutton returned to what initially seemed to be an innocuous incident and placed Kikau on report before binning him.
“No attempt to tackle, there’s a high risk of injury. It’s on report and you’re in the bin,” Sutton said.
Greg Alexander said Sutton’s decision was the right one after Moses was put in a “dangerous” position.
“It’s the original kick from Mitch Moses… oh boy, I thought it a little bit dangerous when it happened because I thought the kicking leg makes contact with Kikau,” Alexander said.
“There you go, it does. It’s his kicking leg… that’s why he hit the ground, he’s spun around because his kicking leg was impacted by Viliame Kikau.
“You just can’t let that happen… in the modern day you just can’t do that.”
However, legendary halfback Cooper Cronk believed Moses had “milked” the impact, hoping to secure his side a penalty.
“Five minutes before halftime, look you cannot attack the kicker’s leg, it’s a penalty. But Mitchell Moses has milked that,” Cronk said.
“I don’t think it’s a sin bin, but it’s a penalty. Viliame Kikau pulls out of that at the last minute. Moses feels that and lairs it up a little bit.”
Only three tackles later the Eels were able to score, with Junior Paulo spinning in the tackle before offloading to Dylan Walker with Kikau’s exile proving costly.
“Junior Paulo, the keys to the house, they’ve broken into the Bulldogs’ home,” Andrew Voss said, while Alexander added: “What a statement.”
