Flanagan copped backlash from the league world over the scenes against the Bulldogs.

Dragons five-eighth Kyle Flanagan has copped widespread backlash over a biting incident on Stephen Crichton over the weekend but veteran NRL journalist Phil Rothfield has tipped the argument on its head after insisting it was the the Bulldogs player’s actions “that actually caused the incident”. Replays showed the moment Crichton reeled out of a tackle after the Bulldogs captain pushed his face into Flanagan’s while he lay on the ground.

Crichton’s nose ended up in Flanagan’s mouth – and while it wasn’t particularly clear whether Flanagan intentionally bit down – the Bulldogs centre came reeling away in pain and could be seen with blood coming out of his nose. The Bulldogs skipper lodged an official complaint with the NRL and didn’t attend the post-match press conference, with the match review committee referring the Dragons five-eighth directly to a judiciary hearing.

Such an action is typically only taken for serious offences or those unable to be ruled on without testimony. Flanagan will front the panel at the judiciary on Tuesday night as the first player this season accused of biting – an offence that normally carries a ban of between three and six weeks.

League greats Mal Meninga and Cooper Cronk both spoke about the incident during Fox League’s coverage and said it didn’t look good for Flanagan. “That was hard to watch and it’s hard evidence,” Meninga said. “There’s no doubt that he’s bitten him. And obviously the repercussions of that is Stephen’s nose is bleeding. A pretty hard one to disprove to be honest with you.”