It turns out Fox Sports was wrong!
Nelson Asofa-Solomona has been suspended for three upcoming test matches for New Zealand and fined $15,000 by the NRL for his part in a brawl in Bali in which Asofa-Solomona said he has he was defending team mate Suliasi Vunivalu who had been allegedly king hit.
Asofa-Solonona released the following statement:
“At the time, I was worried about Suli, who had earlier been coward-punched in an unprovoked attack,” Asofa-Solomona said.
“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.”
This seems like bullshit to me. This will open up players to having to deal with idiots in public looking to start trouble.
