What did we expect?
Although the circumstances are very different, it has echoes of numerous incidents in the 1990s and 2000s, when New Zealand players (Rueben Wiki, Quentin Pongia, Nigel Vagana et al) were rubbed out by the judiciary, often in highly arguable cases, on the eve of test matches.
As well as being the game's governing body, the NRL also runs the Kangaroos, who will be an obvious beneficiary of the prop's absence, given fellow Kiwis bookend Jesse Bromwich is also ruled out (injury).
Even the media release had a touch of Monty Python about it, saying that the punishment was imposed "in conjunction with the Melbourne Storm".
It's easy to imagine the club and the NRL agreed on a scenario showing they were taking a stance, but not affecting the all-powerful Victorian outfit at all.
If the NRL had decided this was a serious incident, they needed to act with a five or six game ban, which encompassed some of the club season.
Otherwise, Asofa-Solomona should have been free to play at least one of the upcoming tests.
And there was certainly some compelling evidence that Asofa-Solomona was acting in self defence, as well protecting his teammate Suliasi Vunivalu, who had been king hit by a bar patron inside La Favela bar.
Former NRL Judiciary chairman and district court judge Paul Conlon told Australian media on Thursday that it was possible Asofa-Solomona's actions could be justified.
"We've all seen so many cases of a person getting king-hit and then once they are on the ground, people come to lay the boot into him. That has catastrophic consequences," said Conlon.
"The league want to act strongly in regards to incidents and that's fine. But you still have to charge every case on its own merit. You can't have a one size fits all."
"If there is ever a time when the game itself needs to stand behind a player in a particular circumstance that we have here, it is now."
Asofa-Solomona was also issued with a suspended $15,000 fine.
The NRL said the sanctions take into account evidence which showed a degree of provocation contributed to the incident, Asofa-Solomona's cooperation with the NRL investigation and the remorse he has shown.
In a video interview on the Storm's website, Asofa-Solomona expressed some remorse over the event.
"At the time, I was worried about Suli, who had earlier been coward-punched in an unprovoked attack," said Asofa-Solomona.
"Suli is one of my closest friends and obviously I would never have reacted that way had he not been assaulted earlier inside the bar.
"The last few days have been very tough obviously, but the support I have had from the Club, the RLPA, my family, friends and the fans has been incredible.
"Looking back on this incident, could this have been handled differently? Yes, I could have picked up Suli and got out of there. Unfortunately, that is not the way this played out.
"I understand that as a Storm and NRL player, I'm a role model for kids and I want them to know that meeting violence with violence is not the solution."
