The loophole Elliott Whitehead will exploit to potentially shorten controversial suspension

Elliott Whitehead will not be suspended for the beginning of his second stint in Super League with Catalans Dragons due to a loophole that will prevent him from missing any competitive action at the start of next season.

Whitehead’s NRL career is over, after the forward accepted a three-match suspension for an incident involving Sydney Rosters’ Brandon Smith during the game between the Roosters and Canberra Raiders last weekend.

Whitehead was charged after a hip drop tackle which led to Smith suffering a serious ACL injury that has brought a premature end to his own campaign.

And Whitehead is now banned from the Raiders‘ final match of the NRL campaign. With Canberra unable to reach the play-offs, the remaining two games of his suspension must be served in Super League.

Love Rugby League has had confirmation that NRL suspensions do carry over to Super League meaning that, on the face of it, Whitehead would miss Catalans‘ first two league games of 2025, after the forward agreed a deal to return to the Dragons.

But there is a loophole which Whitehead and Catalans can exploit, Love Rugby League can reveal. Under the game’s guidelines, players can serve up to two matches of any suspension during pre-season friendlies.

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With Whitehead suspended this week, it means that Catalans’ pre-season trial games will count on his ban, leading to him being available for the opening round of next season.

Even if Catalans do not play two pre-season friendlies – which they have not done in the past – then Whitehead would still be cleared to play. Love Rugby League understands that Whitehead’s suspension would also be eligible to be counted in any fixture played by Catalans’ reserve side, St Estève XIII.

So whatever happens, Catalans and Whitehead will be able to effectively sidestep the rules to free him up to ensure he does not miss any competitive action for the Dragons due to the high-profile suspension which has ended his NRL career early.

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