BULLDOG players Luke Turner and Nathan Chappell await their fate at the judiciary tonight.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Both are charged with striking in the end of game brawl that marred the Bulldogs win over the Warriors at the Workers Arena on Sunday.
The brawl erupted when Warrior forward John Papalii flung a swinging arm into the face of Turner, knocking him out in the dying seconds of the game.
Both teams reacted as tensions boiled over. Four players were sent off the field by the referee – Papalii and Turner, as well as Goulburn’s Nathan Chappell and the Warriors Bobby Roberts.
All four face the judiciary, but with the Bulldogs advancing to the preliminary final, there is a chance Turner and Chappell could miss the important match.
“I don’t think any of them should be suspended,” West Belconnen Warriors coach Justin Giteau told the Post yesterday.
“The Goulburn guy (Turner) especially. To not play a semi-final match over that would be rough and as for Johnny (Papalii), well it was a fight, you see that week in and week out.”
Bulldogs president Joe Stephens and coach Michael Picker have reviewed footage and believe the actions of Turner and Chappell do not warrant further action.
“The high tackle, I’ve watched the footage a few times and it’s probably one of the worse ones I’ve seen,” Picker said.
“For our boys, something was bound to happen out of it. That just can’t be done on the field. You can’t just do that and expect everyone to walk away.
“And for the two blokes (Turner and Chappell) to get sent off, I dunno if it was the right thing but the referee was under pressure to and it would have been a tough one.”
Stephens said the loss of the two key players would be a devastating blow considering the side will face the loser of this weekends match between the Queanbeyan Blues and the Queanbeyan Roos in a preliminary final.
Turner has been a powerhouse forward for the Bulldogs so far this season while Chappell was proven to be a game winner on the Bulldogs wing.
The Bulldogs will lodge their case tonight, and will learn by night’s end the result of Turner and Chappell’s fate.