THE NRL has banned suspended South Sydney hooker Issac Luke from holding-up the trophy or accepting a premiership ring at the official post-match grand final presentation should his Rabbitohs win Sunday’s big decider. It is Luke’s second gut-wrenching setback in two days. The Daily Telegraph can also reveal the NRL will permit injured Bulldogs captain Michael Ennis onto the official rostrum should Canterbury triumph. Luke has been rubbed out of the grand final after being suspended by an NRL judiciary panel on Tuesday night. The decision to prevent Luke from participating in the official presentation will no doubt anger South Sydney fans. Given he is injured and not suspended, Ennis will be allowed onto the stage. The NRL has spoken with Souths and will relent slightly by allowing Luke onto the field after the game, but not to be apart of the official presentation. “We have no problem with an injured player being part of the formal presentation, as was the case in 2004 when Steve Price lifted the trophy with Andrew Ryan,” said NRL general manager of football, Nathan McGuirk. “Our operations guidelines for suspended players are clear. A suspended player cannot enter the field of play prior to, during or after a match. “We have had some dialogue with Souths and we will be allowing some latitude in this case, allowing Issac to take the field at the completion of the match to either celebrate or commiserate with his teammates.” The NRL operations manual does state that suspended players “must not enter the playing field or area inside the fence prior to, during or after a match.” Luke will be free to enjoy the lap of honour if Souths win. The Daily Telegraph has learnt that Canterbury management will buy an extra premiership ring for Ennis if the club enjoys victory. And Souths claim they have “something special” lined-up for Luke, should the Rabbitohs prevail. The NRL buy 17 rings from Zed and Zed jewellers for the winning players. The victorious club can then purchase extra rings if they choose. “We don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves,” said Bulldogs chief executive Raelene Castle. “We have a tough grand final to play and try and win on Sunday night. “If we are fortunate enough to have a win, then absolutely we would provide Mick with a ring. “He has been one our leader for years. But for a foot injury he would be there leading our team into the grand final. “What he has delivered to our team over the past six years, absolutely he deserves a ring.” Souths CEO Shane Richardson was reluctant to discuss whether Luke would receive a ring but did admit: “We have something special planned internally. “I don’t want to discuss it at this stage.” Ennis said this week he would feel awkward joining in the onstage celebrations if Canterbury won and he was ruled out. Asked did he expect a ring to be given to him by a teammate if his side won, Ennis said: “No, not at all. I don’t expect anything out of it on Sunday. “I am just happy for the boys. I know how hard they have worked. Souths have said that they expect me to play but I have been honest all along. Unless I wake up one day and for some reason the pain has gone, it’s highly unlikely.”
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 23:55:29 +0000
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