While Rugby may be a full-contact sport, there are definitely still limitations to what’s acceptable to do to an opponent. Australian rugby league player Corey Norman is learning that the hard way this week after going viral for all the wrong reasons.
The Rugby Football League has suspended Norman for eight games and given him a fine worth about $600 after the Toulouse Olypique halfback stuck his hand “between the buttocks” of one of his Warrington Wolves opponents on August 11th.
The whole act was caught on video.
@newssportau Ex-NRL player Corey Norman is in serious trouble for this tackle. 😳 #rugbyleague #nrl #superleague #rugby #coreynorman ♬ original sound – News Sport
Norman pleaded not guilty to any wrongdoings, but a disciplinary tribunal found him guilty after reviewing the video evidence, saying they were “entirely satisfied” that Norman had intentionally placed a hand between the buttocks of an opposing player.
Here’s a relevant excerpt from the ruling:
“The footage of the incident shows a deliberate movement of Corey Norman’s left arm and hand over the top of Oliver Holmes and on to his buttocks. At no point does the footage show a grabbing of the shorts to push Oliver Holmes down as described by Corey Norman. The footage shows a deliberate placing of Corey Norman’s hands and fingers on the buttocks and coupled with the immediate complaint from Holmes, the reaction of his team-mate Danny Walker and the statement of Holmes to which we have measured regard we are entirely satisfied that this was an intentional placing of a hand between the buttocks of the opposing player and we find the charge proved.”
With the eight-game suspension, Norman’s season now comes to a close as there are only four games remaining on Toulouse Olypique’s schedule.
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