Judiciary ruling clears Collins, JWH for earlier World Cup returns

Sydney Roosters prop Lindsay Collins will be available for Australia’s second World Cup match against Scotland after being allowed to include Sunday’s Prime Minister’s XIII match in his suspension.

Roosters front-row partner Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will also be able to include New Zealand’s World Cup warm-up match against Leeds in his ban, enabling him to return in the third pool match against Ireland.

NRL judiciary chairman, Justice Geoff Bellew, granted the dispensation to the pair after the Roosters wrote to him seeking to have the fixtures included in the suspensions for Collins and Waerea-Hargreaves.

The ruling follows a similar decision by the Rugby Football League to allow John Bateman to serve two matches of a three match ban in an England Knights game and World Cup warm-up clash with Fiji.  

Collins received a four match suspension for a hip drop tackle in the round 24 match against Melbourne and has served two matches of his ban before the Roosters were eliminated in the opening week of the finals.

If selected in the Kangaroos squad for the World Cup, Collins will miss Australia’s opening match against Fiji at Headingley Stadium on October 15, which is headed for a sell-out.

Waerea-Hargreaves is yet to serve any of the three match ban incurred for dangerous contact in the 30-14 elimination final loss to South Sydney and will also miss New Zealand’s opening two World Cup matches.

Bateman is set to miss the opening World Cup match against Toa Samoa at Newcastle's St James Stadium on October 15 but will be free to play in England’s second pool match against France a week later.

The Wigan second-rower was sent off for a high shot on former Canberra Raiders team-mate Aidan Sezer in last weekend’s semi-final loss to Leeds and the RFL disciplinary committee imposed a three-match ban on Tuesday.

He was earlier named in the England Knights squad to play France B in Bordeaux on October 1.

England officials have applied for the fixture to count towards the star second-rower's suspension, along with the World Cup warm-up match against Fiji at Salford on October 7.

St Helens forward Morgan Knowles will be available for England's World Cup campaign after a second appeal overturned his two match ban for a chicken wing and cleared him to play in the Super League grand final against Leeds.

French forward Romain Navarrete will also be able to include a World Cup warm-up clash with Tonga in his two match suspension, which included Toulouse's last round Super League loss to St Helens. 

South Sydney Rabbitohs prop Tom Burgess will be free to play for England as he completes his two match suspension in this weekend's grand final qualifier against Penrith Panthers.

If the Rabbitohs beat the NRL premiers, Burgess will be available for the October 2 grand final in Sydney.