Asofa-Solomona hit with long ban, risks missing GF

Melbourne will seek advice from lawyers before deciding whether to throw a Hail Mary play in an attempt to clear Nelson Asofa-Solomona for the NRL grand final.

Asofa-Solomona received the worst possible news on Saturday morning, when told he was facing a grade-three charge for the high tackle that knocked out Lindsay Collins.

The charge carries a four-game ban with an early guilty plea, or a fifth match on the sideline if he fights it and loses.

It means Asofa-Solomona must attempt to downgrade the charge two levels to a grade-one in order to play in next Sunday’s decider.

The Storm have little to lose by fighting the charge, given Asofa-Solomona would only risk missing round one next year if unsuccessful given the rest will be absorbed by the Pacific Championships.

But they will speak to judiciary legal eagle Nick Ghabar before officially entering a plea on Monday, and want to be sure they have a case to make before mounting a challenge.

The Storm did successfully fight a shoulder charge to allow Billy Slater to play in the 2018 grand final, but were without Cameron Smith for a grapple tackle in 2008.

Issac Luke, Carl Webb and Luke Ricketson are among others to miss grand finals through suspension.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said before the ban he thought the tackle penalty was sufficient and did not believe his front-rower should have been sin-binned after the opening hit of the 48-18 win over the Sydney Roosters.

Roosters players also backed Bellamy’s call later, with the Kiwi prop finding unlikely allies in his bid to face the winner of Penrith and Cronulla.

“I hope (he’s) not (banned), I truly do,” Jared Waerea-Hargreaves said.

“It’s why we play, it’s such a physical game. You play that thing in the middle, we’re just out there trying to do our best.

“They are small margins we talk about. I really hope it doesn’t cost Nelson a grand final.”

Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary took a similar stance, but said defenders across the board needed to do more to protect ball carriers on kick off returns.

The issue remains a key talking point for the game, amid questions on whether kick offs will exist long into the future based on player safety.

“We said in there, we don’t want to see him miss a grand final,” Keary said.

“With those kick offs you’re running like that, the onus is on the defender to not hit this one guy running at full pace (in the head).

“We don’t want to see (the kick off) banned because it is this gladiatorial sport.

“There is one guy running, he’s not moving (sideways). You just cannot hit him in the head.

“They’re not ducking at the last second, this isn’t like a fullback stepping. We’ve seen it on our end too, we’ve had blokes hit people high. It’s got to be on the defender.”

Melbourne also have other minor concerns ahead of next Sunday’s grand final with Nick Meaney, Jahrome Hughes (calf) and Harry Grant (neck) nursing minor injuries.