Prop Charlie Gubb has been suspended until the end of the regular season after the Vodafone Warriors were unsuccessful in their bid to have his grade two shoulder charge offence downgraded at an NRL judiciary hearing in Sydney on Wednesday night.
Gubb, accompanied by Vodafone Warriors head coach Andrew McFadden, flew to Sydney to attend the hearing.
They were hoping to have the charge downgraded and the period of suspension trimmed to three games for Gubb’s 13th-minute collision with Manly prop Darcy Lussick in Saturday night’s 19th-round encounter in Perth.
An early guilty plea carried a five-game suspension but Gubb, who has appeared in 14 of the Vodafone Warriors’ 17 games this season, faced a seven-game ban in the event of an unsuccessful challenge.
Sitting on the panel were former players Bob Lindner, Sean Garlick and Chris McKenna. After hearing the cases put forward by both sides they found the 26-year-old Wellingtonian guilty as charged, meaning he won’t be able to play again during the regular season.
Gubb and McFadden were left devastated.
“I’m in shock,” said McFadden immediately after the decision was reached.
“We believed there was a strong case for having the charge downgraded to grade one but the judiciary didn’t see it that way. It’s devastating for Charlie and for the team that he won’t be able to play again in the regular season.
“He’s an important player in our group with the energy and intensity he brings. We’ll miss what he provides but we’re just going to have to adapt now to operating without him for the next seven games.”
Straight after the hearing McFadden flew to Canberra where he’ll be joined by the squad and staff tomorrow ahead of Saturday’s 20th-round match against the fifth-placed Raiders.
