New South Wales coach Brad Fittler could not believe his eyes when he saw the match review committee’s charge sheet on Thursday morning.
Three players were charged from the State of Origin epic at Suncorp Stadium.
Dane Gagai and Matt Burton were both fined for punching on during the fiery decider. Queensland enforcer Tino Fa’asuamaleaui was charged twice – once for getting involved in that melee, and again for whacking Burton high with a swinging arm at a different stage of the game.
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None of the players copped suspensions – even Fa’asuamaleaui, who copped a grade-one and a grade-two charged for separate incidents. All three accepted fines.
Fittler, though, was left fuming Burton ended up more out of pocket than Fa’asuamaleaui.
The Blues young gun left the stadium with a badly bruised and swollen face, after getting belted by Gagai as he was held by Fa’asuamaleaui.
“The problem I had with it was Graham Annesley had come out during the week and spoke about the third man in should be sin-binned,” Fittler told Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“Tino was the third man in and he could have done other things other than put (Burton) in a pretty aggressive head lock, and the way that got treated. The fact is at the end of the day when it went to the (MRC) Matt Burton actually got fined more money than Tino.
“Matt Burton got fined more than Tino. I find that absolutely ridiculous.”
Queensland great Darren Lockyer responded, and the pair got into a back-and-forth on the issue.
“He was third man in but he didn’t throw a punch,” Lockyer said of Fa’asuamaleaui.
Fittler replied, “but he put him in a head lock”.
Lockyer argued, “if he didn’t pull Matt Burton down to the ground then the fight would have just kept going”, to which Fittler responded, “I don’t think so”.
“Even if he does, he’s still in a head lock and Dane Gagai still continue to melee with him and fight,” Fittler said.
“At the end of it Matt Burton has come out of it pretty ordinary, and to be fined more – given Annesley had come out during the week and spoke about the third man in should be sin-binned in regards to the Latrell Mitchell incident against Newcastle – I just found it really soft officiating.
“Afterwards, to see (the fines), I thought that was just hopeless.”
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