Newcastle repeat offender's lucky escape as 'dumb' act sparks NRL uproar

Newcastle forward Jack Hetherington can perhaps consider himself lucky after escaping punishment for an incident that drew the ire of the NRL world on Friday night. Hetherington was sin-binned for slapping Will Smith and fortunate that it did not prove costly as his Knights side ran out 34-18 winners.

Kalyn Ponga marked his 100th game with a starring performance for the home side - the fullback having a hand in five of his side's seven tries as the Knights won to move within one point of the top-eight. The bottom-placed Tigers had their chances - particularly when Hetherington went to the bin early in the second half - but were unable to capitalise.

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Hetherington earned a stinging rebuke from commentators and fans after being baited into lashing out at Smith, having been collected high in a tackle from his opponent. A melee erupted and whatever Smith said to Hetherington had the desired effect as the Knights forward reacted by slapping him across the face, leaving officials with no choice but to give him a 10-minute spell.

Despite the slap being his second in the space of a month, Hetherington was not charged by the match review committee after their findings were handed down on Saturday. The reprieve came after NRL greats Andrew Johns, Brad Fittler and Paul Gallen all lashed the star's "poor discipline", with Gallen labelling his actions "dumb".

" The fact is everyone knows you get sent for 10 these days, I remember when I was playing four or five years ago, if you open-hand slap anyone, it's like a punch, you get sent to the sin bin," Gallen said on Channel Nine's broadcast. "This guy, he's a good player, I think he's a really good player. He's athletic, big, a strong bloke, but so frustrating, he does some dumb things.

"That's why he's been to a few clubs, a bit hot under the collar," Fittler said on Nine's coverage. Johns said while it was a silly case of ill-discipline from Hetherington, he insisted "they can't bin him".

Jack Hetherington slammed for 'inexcusable' act

Fittler offered a different take. "He shouldn't have done it, he knows you can't do it," he added. Fans also took aim at Hetherington on social media, describing it as an "inexcusable" act at what was a crucial juncture in the contest.

Jack Hetherington escapes sanction after latest slap

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. 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."

After trailing 18-0 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday night, the Tigers did well to close the margin to four points in the second half as rookie fullback Jahream Bula grabbed a try-scoring double. But Ponga's ball-playing in attack proved the main difference between the two sides as the Knights saw off a second half fightback from the visitors to keep within touching distance of the top-eight.

with AAP

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