Toovey livid at Matai ban

Manly centre Steve Matai‘s one match ban for his tackle on George Burgess has angered coach Geoff Toovey.

Matai was charged with a grade one careless high tackle by the NRL match review committee following Friday night’s defeat to South Sydney at Brookvale.

Matai clattered Rabbitohs prop Burgess during the second half and was handed a one-match suspension, but Toovey says the New Zealand international’s disciplinary record has counted against him.

“The referee said he didn’t think there was a problem with it, obviously it was a spectacular thing and the media’s run with it and unfortunately Stevie’s record made things worse,” Toovey told Manly’s official website.

“Unfortunately, you’ve got to prove your innocence. How can you do that when the camera angles aren’t there or there’s speculation that you did hit him?

“Ask the fans, they thought it was a great game, they thought it was a great tackle. The officials on the field thought it was fine but obviously other people thought not.”

Meanwhile, Sea Eagles prop Richie Fa’aoso was charged for a grade two and grade three dangerous throw charges for two tackles on Souths full-back Greg Inglis.

Fa’aoso, who took the early guilty pleas, will miss eight weeks in total as a result.