Did the refs miss a Josh Mansour eye gouge in Souths' win over Manly?

NRL comes up with an UNBELIEVABLE reason for not charging Josh Mansour with an eye gouge after he raked his hand across Kieran Foran’s face – with Souths star only fined $750

  • Bunnies’ Josh Mansour has been fined $750 for an ‘unintentional’ eye gouge
  • Fans have exploded on Twitter saying Mansour should’ve been charged on-field
  • Karl Lawton will miss at least four weeks for his spear tackle on Cam Murray

Rabbitohs winger Josh Mansour won’t miss a minute of game time despite appearing to rake his hand over Kieran Foran’s eyes in Souths’ win over Manly on Friday night – with the NRL only hitting him with a $750 fine.

Mansour committed the foul on the Manly half as he tried to stop him scoring a try in the 15th minute of the match. 

Sea Eagles second-rower Karl Lawton was charged with a Grade three dangerous throw on Bunnies lock Cameron Murray in the 11th minute, while Mansour’s scrape on the face of Foran went unnoticed by officials.

The NRL has only fined Mansour (left)  $750 for appearing to rake his hand over Kieran Foran's eyes because he was behind the Sea Eagles half

The NRL has only fined Mansour (left)  $750 for appearing to rake his hand over Kieran Foran’s eyes because he was behind the Sea Eagles half 

The NRL match review committee slapped Mansour with a grade one contrary conduct charge because he was behind Foran and could not see the position of the ball.

Fans exposed the supposed eye gouge on Twitter and questioned why Mansour wasn’t penalised straight away – and why the NRL didn’t take a harder stance.

‘How did the bunker not catch that?’, a fan tweeted.

‘Josh Mansour receives $750 fine for an eye gouge. As a further consequence to the Bunnies, Mansour will be available for selection next week,’ another fan tweeted.

Meanwhile, Karl Lawton will face a maximum of five weeks on the sidelines if the judiciary is finds him guilty of a spear tackle on Bunnies captain Cameron Murray. 

Lawton was sent off for the tackle, which could have had horrific consequences. 

Karl Lawton will be out for four weeks if he pleads guilty to a horror spear tackle on Souths skipper Cameron Murray (pictured)

Karl Lawton will be out for four weeks if he pleads guilty to a horror spear tackle on Souths skipper Cameron Murray (pictured)

Opinion was largely split following the incident, with commentators Phil Gould, Billy Slater and Brad Fittler adamant he should not have been marched from the field, while the likes of Greg Alexander and Benji Marshall were happy with the decision. 

‘He’s devastated, the poor kid,’ Manly coach Des Hasler said post game.

‘He’s such a hard worker and plays the game at that pace. There was certainly no malice in the tackle.’

Lawton’s absence will be somewhat made up for by the return of Haumole Olaka’atu from suspension for the game against Wests.

It means the Sea Eagles will boast their first-choice back row for the first time this year, with Josh Schuster making a solid return from injury against the Rabbitohs.

source: dailymail.co.uk