Newcastle Knights coach Wayne Bennett slams NRL after Kade Snowden shoulder charge ban NEWCASTLE coach Wayne Bennett claims the NRL is denying players natural justice by making it too risky to defend charges at the judiciary for fear of copping an extra penalty. In the wake of Knights prop Kade Snowden accepting a seven-match ban today rather than risk a nine-week stint on the sideline for the grade four shoulder charge that left Cowboys hooker Ray Thompson with a broken jaw. Bennett says the judiciary rules regarding suspensions and the right to defend yourself need to be looked at. "It was Kade's decision in the end (to take the early guilty plea)," Bennett said. We left it to him. We totally wanted to support him on that. Kade Snowden breaks Ray Thompson's jaw with a shoulder charge. The unfairness with the system is not about crying over spilt milk. The unfairness with the system is Kade can't go down there and defend that position because if we defend that and lose it, we get another penalty. We don't feel it deserved seven weeks. It was a collision. They happen in rugby league. It's a contact game. We've got a young player with a broken jaw, we understand that. But it wasn't because of anything malicious or intentional. But you're obviously going to do nine weeks if you lose. Seven weeks is tough enough without putting another two on and there are no guarantees. That's the part that's got to change. Players have got to have the right to defend themselves. We've all got the right to defend ourselves but they have taken that right away in the sense there is the risk of an extra penalty (if you lose). That's a pretty tough call.