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FOOTAGE: Player (18) banned for 10 years for sickening attack on referee
By Ian Cameron
An 18-year-old Australian rugby player has been banned for 10 years for attacking a referee.
The sickening incident occurred during the Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union U19s Grand Final.
Maitland’s Mark Meafua received the ban for striking referee Niklas Gaal during the match last weekend and the incident was recorded by BarTV Sports.
Following the incident Meafua was arrested at his Rutherford home and was subsequently charged with common assault. He is due before a local court in October.
The Newcastle Herald reports Meafua read out a three-page apology letter during a two-hour judiciary hearing this week.
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Latest Comments
It’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
Go to commentsDon’t pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie… he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesn’t. Which is the reason why he didn’t apply for the job obviously
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