Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy's view on Nelson Asofa Solomona's latest on-field incident has been vindicated with the Storm enforcer avoiding a charge by the NRL's match review committee.
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Following their 22-14 loss to Parramatta on Thursday night, Bellamy questioned whether Asofa-Solomona had become the NRL's "punching bag" after he was again placed on report.
The prop made late contact with Mitch Moses, flattening the Eels halfback after he kicked the ball.
Bellamy didn't think the hit deserved any special attention.
"It was probably a touch late but it certainly wasn't high," Bellamy said.
"(Asofa-Solomona's) arms were around his waist. I'm not quite sure whether the report was because of his reputation."
The Kiwi international has copped five charges from the match review committee this season but has so far only received fines rather than suspensions for each of his indiscretions.
After he was cited for grade-one dangerous contact against the Sydney Roosters last week, NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the match review committee had the power to come down harder on repeat offenders.
Bellamy criticised the timing of the announcement, which appeared a reaction to media reports regarding Asofa-Solomona's lengthy record.
"There are a lot of other incidents that are as bad as Nelson's but we decided to pick on Nelson this week. He was the punching bag," Bellamy said.
There were no charges from the CommBank Stadium clash, which decided the NRL's top four.
Australian Associated Press
