Did Jacob Saifiti deserve to be sin binned after headbutting Mahoney?

Newcastle Knights enforcer Jacob Saifiti has escaped any further suspensions for his brain explosion in his side’s 32-2 loss to the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs.

With the game in its dying seconds, Saifiti was sent to the sin bin for a headbutt on Reed Mahoney and has been subsequently fined $3000 for the incident.

Despite Mahoney having a history of being central to altercations in recent weeks, Saifiti’s actions left many stunned and was widely seen as an act of frustration above anything.

Former NRL prop Justin Horo admitted whilst the decision wasn’t a smart one from Saifiti, the punishment for his actions is justified and shouldn’t be taken further.

“There was nothing in it, it was more of a glance and a frustration thing,” Horo said on SEN 1170 Mower’s Club.

“For me, he was more put in the bin for stupidity and losing his cool. “The game was done, Saifiti deserved ten in the bin for not being to control his emotions.”

Horo touched on Mahoney’s in this incident and admitted the game from the Bulldogs hooker was one of his more tame ones.

“Reed was involved in a couple of things but he didn’t really as much last night,” Horo added.

“It was much that (he was) there abouts, once he’s in the circle then they had a pre-conceived idea that Reed was going to start (something).”

After the win the Bulldogs moved up into 8th place on the NRL ladder whilst Newcastle was bumped out of a finals spot, moving down into 10th place.