Nelson Asofa-Solomona to miss Great Britain matches after Bali brawl

Drew Darbyshire 18 Oct 2019 10:04 AM

New Zealand international Nelson Asofa-Solomona will miss their Tests against Great Britain after being suspended following a brawl while on holiday in Bali.

The 23-year-old has been given a three-match ban by the National Rugby League after the incident went viral on social media.

He will miss the Kiwis’ two Test matches against Great Britain in November.

In a statement released by the NRL, it read: “All clubs were advised that serious penalties would be imposed for all off-field incidents.

“The sanctions take into account evidence which showed a degree of provocation contributed to the incident, Asofa-Solomona’s co-operation with the NRL investigation and the remorse he has shown.”

Asofa-Solomona said: “At the time, I was worried about Suli [Suliasi Vunivalu, Melbourne team-mate], who had earlier been coward-punched in an unprovoked attack.

“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.”

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