Rugby league: NRL wants answers over melee

By PETER JESSUP and PATRICK GOWER

The Warriors are vowing to defend themselves vigorously at tonight's judicial hearing over incidents in their win over the Queensland Cowboys which put a cheerleader in hospital and landed seven players on charges.

The match has sparked tough talking from the National Rugby League, which has ordered a major investigation after repeated video replays showed players from both sides running in to join a melee that left them, cheerleaders and a television cameraman sprawling.

The Warriors camp believe video analysis will clear their players of doing little more than defending themselves.

The video shows that the Warriors' Lee Oudenryn, Robert Mears and Scott Pethybridge went in to quell a spat between their team-mate David Myles and Damien Smith of the Queensland Cowboys.

Tony Tuimavave moves to do the same and is thrown forward into a Fox television cameraman as Cowboy Brett Boyd sprints in.

The cameraman goes down while Boyd and Cowboy captain Tim Brasher continue to move in on Tuimavave.

Neither club wanted to pass much comment on the facts yesterday, both wary of the NRLs power to impose fines of $A15,000 on players and $A500,000 on franchises.

However, there was no ill-feeling towards the Warriors in Townsville judging by the reaction of publican Peter Molloy, who owns Newmarket Hotel with his brother Mick.

He told the Herald last night that there was absolutely "no animosity at all" from patrons.

"If anyone was copping the biggest baking it was the ref.

"Two minutes after the game all anyone could talk about was the ref and how he could have nipped it in the bud straight up. The blame for the scrap was laid squarely with the referee."

A cheerleader, Vanessa Riolo, suffered bruised ribs and was taken to hospital for precautionary x-rays but was back at her university studies yesterday.

Four players are charged with conduct detrimental to the game, and face bans up to four weeks.

They are Cowboys wing Damien Smith, who threw the first blow, and prop Brett Boyd who ran to join the fight; Warriors centre David Myles, who threw Smith over an advertising hoarding as play ran down the touchline and Tony Tuimavave, who had moved from the interchange bench to the sideline ready to go on the field and also got involved.

Warrior second-rower Ali Lauiti'iti got to try a Kiwi jersey for size at the Anzac test team outfitting in Sydney yesterday but probably won't get to wear it after being landed with two careless high tackle charges.

If Lauiti'iti pleads guilty he will get a two-week ban forcing him out of Friday's test; if he denies the charges and goes down, six weeks.

Cowboys standoff Noel Goldthorpe and second-rower Robert Relf were also charged with high tackle offences.

Warriors boss Trevor McKewen said the club would vigorously defend the charges against Myles, facing two weeks off, and Tuimavave, up to six. Lauiti'iti's case they would consider and discuss with the Kiwi camp overnight. He said: "It's not our fault the cheergirls were sitting there."