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The NRL judiciary has unanimously upheld a suspension for Newcastle Knights hooker Ben Crossland, ruling him ineligible for the grand final after emotional appeals. Despite Crossland's tearful apology and assertion that he was merely trying to stop a try against Nathan Cleary, the panel confirmed the ban, leading to Harrison Graham taking his place in the squad.
Newcastle Knights Crossland made an emotional pitch to the NRL judiciary on Tuesday in a desperate, albeit unlikely, bid to be free to play in the grand final clash against the “ is my favourite player in the game.
To be the reason he is in hospital is killing me,” Crossland told the judiciary.
“I called him yesterday... I had to apologise... I reached out to his dad as well and said sorry for ruining such a great game. At one point Crossland was in tears, but the judiciary panel of Ryan James and Paul Simpkins were not moved, taking just 17 minutes to reach a unanimous verdict after an 80-minute hearing.
“The most of what I’ve seen of it was on a screen when you slow it down, it doesn’t look great. I was trying to stop a try. In my position, it’s my job to stop tries. That’s all I was trying to do.
I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. Newcastle had named an unchanged squad from the side that beat Penrith on Sunday, holding out slim hope that the judiciary would take pity on Crossland. With Crossland’s suspension now confirmed, Harrison Graham will replace him as hooker and one of the reserves will be added to the interchange.
NRL Newcastle Knights Ben Crossland NRL Judiciary Grand Final
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