North Queensland Cowboys star Jason Taumalolo banned for two games over shoulder charge

North Queensland Cowboys forward Jason Taumalolo has been found guilty of a shoulder charge at the NRL judiciary and suspended for two games.

Taumalolo pleaded not guilty to a grade-one charge for a hit on Brisbane’s Alex Glenn, but was suspended for the next fortnight and will miss the Cowboys’ clashes with Manly and Gold Coast.

The Kiwi wrecking ball’s loss will be sorely felt after co-captain Matt Scott was ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL, stretching the Cowboy’s forward stocks.

He would have only missed one game with an early guilty plea, but unsuccessfully rolled the dice at the judiciary at Rugby League Central on Tuesday night.

Scott, though, was on Tuesday night found not guilty of a shoulder charge on Korbin Sims, clearing him of a possible suspension. But the result was inconsequential after he suffered a serious knee injury in the same game.

Taumalolo’s suspension all but squashes his chances of winning back-to-back Dally M Medals.

The 23-year-old, who was the co-winner of the game’s highest individual honour alongside Cooper Cronk last year, will be deducted six points, effectively ruling him out of the running.

The judiciary panel of Bob Lindner, Sean Garlick and Tony Puletua took nearly 30 minutes to deliberate on their verdict before finding Taumalolo guilty.

New shoulder charge rules put to the test

The decision was the first test of the NRL’s shoulder charge rules after the interpretation was simplified in the wake of criticism and accusations of inconsistencies by the match review panel last year.

The NRL fine-tuned the laws to remove any mention of the arm being tucked.

Under the new rules, a hit is considered a shoulder charge if a player does not attempt to use their arms to tackle and there is forceful contact.

NRL counsel Peter McGrath argued that Taumalolo satisfied both criteria under the interpretation — he had made forceful contact and not attempted to wrap up the ball runner.

He pointed out that Glenn was knocked sideways by the impact and Taumalolo’s left arm was tucked and his fist clenched as he braced.

“There is no attempt to wrap or grab hold,” Mr McGrath said.

Cowboys coach Paul Green, who represented Taumalolo via video link from Townsville, unsuccessfully argued that his Number 13 showed a duty of care to Glenn and was trying to affect a tackle.