Cleary cleared of shoulder charge Radley set to miss rest of regular season

Nathan Cleary is free to play against South Sydney next Friday night after the match review committee cleared him of a shoulder charge on Jack Bird.

But Sydney Roosters lock Victor Radley was not so lucky, as he will miss at least three weeks should he take the early plea for his tackle on Albert Kelly during Friday night’s 21-20 win over the Broncos.

Nathan Cleary is free to play against South Sydney after avoiding being charged for a shoulder charge.Credit:Getty

Radley was handed a grade-two dangerous contact charge, which means he will miss the remaining matches of the regular season and week one of the finals should he roll the dice at the NRL judiciary and be found guilty.

Cleary, meanwhile, went into Friday night’s game against St George Illawarra with plenty of focus on his injured right shoulder, then fielded questions after the 34-16 win about the contentious tackle using his “good” left shoulder on Bird.

The 54th-minute tackle forced the ball free from Bird, and the Panthers scored through Matt Burton a few seconds later.

As social media went into meltdown about whether Cleary deserved to be charged, match review committee chairman Michael Robertson explained why Cleary was given the green light.

Victor Radley collects the legs of Albert Kelly after a field goal attempt. Credit:NRL Photos

“There are four elements to a shoulder charge,” Robertson said.

“The first is force, the second is whether any forceful contact is generated by the shoulder, the third is whether the tackle is made without trying to wrap the arms, and the final element is whether the tackle is careless - did a player play with the proper level of care?

“The only element which is clear in this particular instance is the use of the arms.

“In this instance, Nathan Cleary was bracing for contact. He actually is bumped backwards as a result of the collision.

Nathan Cleary did not use much force with this shot on Jack Bird.Credit:Fox Sports

“For it to be a charge, the match review committee would need to agree that Cleary did not use the proper level of care, which the game requires.

“And did it bring an unacceptable risk of injury? We deemed it did not.”

Dragons coach Anthony Griffin was unimpressed after the game and said, “it’s a clear-cut shoulder charge”.

“That’s the one they brought the rule in for where you don’t use your arms,” Griffin said.

Cleary, however, said he was simply bracing for the contact.

“I saw him [Bird] pick me out after a kick, I knew I was going to have to put my body on the line,” Cleary said.

“I had someone next to me [Isaah Yeo], I tried to lift my arm but couldn’t get it all the way across because he was right next to me.

“I don’t think it was a shoulder charge. The ref also said they checked it with the video ref ... [Dragons hooker] Andrew McCullough asked the ref at the time about the shoulder charge, and they said it was cleared.”

Had he been charged, Cleary would have missed one game, even with a clean record. However, he was fined $1500 for dangerous contact after flinging Dragons youngster Junior Amone to the ground, which can be reduced to $1150 with an early guilty plea.

Panthers five-eighth Jarome Luai can also escape with a fine for his grade-one careless high tackle on Josh McGuire early in the game.

Meanwhile, the Roosters look set to be without Radley for at least three weeks should he take the early plea for his tackle on Albert Kelly during Friday night’s 21-20 win over the Broncos.

Radley was handed a grade-two dangerous contact charge, which means he will miss the remaining matches of the regular season, and week one of the finals should he roll the dice at the NRL judiciary and be found guilty.

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Christian Nicolussi covers rugby league for The Sydney Morning Herald.

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