KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Warriors have had to swallow a bitter pill in league's NRL.
They have entered an early guilty plea on behalf of winger Michael Crockett after he was charged with a grade two reckless high tackle following his sending off against the Bulldogs at the
weekend.
Crockett was sent off five minutes into the National Rugby League clash (NRL) at Ericsson Stadium for the tackle, which rendered opposite Cameron Phelps unconscious.
Phelps needed to be stretchered off the field after being stabilised by medical staff and was vomiting in the dressing room as the game continued.
Warriors CEO Wayne Scurrah said while they were gutted to lose Crockett for two weeks, the guilty plea was their only option. He said there were some aspects of the charge they would not have felt comfortable contesting, and it was not worth the risk of losing Crockett for three weeks.
Scurrah maintained the send off by referee Sean Hampstead was unfair.
"We do not believe Michael should have been sent off," he said.
"There was no intent on Michael's part. At best we believe the tackle should have been placed on report and then put through the judicial process.
"The sending off had a very serious impact on the game. The effect of it was to take us out of the contest with 75 minutes to play.
"We would wonder whether the sending off, given that it happened so early in the match and that there was no intent involved, was a sufficient penalty."
Crockett has been replaced in the squad by the error-prone Manu Vatuvei for Sunday's match against the competition-leading Melbourne Storm.
Meanwhile, a three week hiatus has come to an end for Warriors halfback Grant Rovelli. He is back in the starting 13 for this weekend's NRL match against the Melbourne Storm.
Jerome Ropati's ankle injury has allowed Michael Witt to move back to his more accustomed five-eighth position to rekindle his halves partnership with Rovelli. He says despite the poor team results with the Auckland Lions, he is pleased with his time in Premier League. He says he has been pretty happy with his form and has some of his confidence back.
Manu Vatuvei and Ruben Wiki are also back into the starting line-up for the suspended Crockett and captain Steve Price, who is away on Queensland State of Origin duty.
- NEWSTALK ZB / NZPA