Newcastle forward Jack Hetherington has avoided scrunity from the match review committee after slapping a rival player mid-game for the second time in three weeks.
Just after half-time in Friday’s 34-18 defeat of Wests Tigers, Hetherington lashed out at five-eighth Will Smith, who had collected him high as he attempted a tackle.
A melee erupted and Hetherington slapped Smith across the face, finding himself sin-binned for his action.
The game was in the balance at 18-12 with the Tigers enjoying momentum leading into the break, so the Knights did well to keep a four-point lead while a man down.
On Saturday morning, the match review committee opted not to charge Hetherington despite the slap being his second in the space of a month.
The forward gave Penrith centre Izack Tago the same treatment in round 17 and was sin-binned on that occasion but also dodged scrutiny from the match review committee.
After the defeat of the Tigers, Knights coach Adam O’Brien said he would address the incident with Hetherington.
“Jack’s smart enough to understand that they baited him and he fell for it,” O’Brien said.
“He’s not a silly boy.
“But he’ll understand that we have to be better. I’ll leave him alone this weekend and I’ll talk to him on Monday.”
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