“Keeley, I just spoke to her after there, she said she got eye gouged during the game,” Strange said.
“She wasn’t sure who, there was a couple in the tackle, so she told the ref, they put it on report, so they’ll have a look at it.”
Kelly said Davis didn’t let the incident rattle her despite it happening early in the match.
“I told any of the girls to come to me with anything if they need to, and that’s exactly what they did, put my players first, and we’ll see what comes of it,” Kelly said of the allegation.
Jubilant NSW players after their game one win.Credit: Getty Images
“I think if you know Keeley, you know that’s not going to rattle her. She’s a professional, Keels; she’s been great, I thought she was great tonight as well, I knew it wasn’t going to affect her.”
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There is yet to be an eye-gouging incident in the NRLW, but the NRL has set a strong precedent for the behaviour in the past.
George Burgess was given a four-match ban for an eye gouge on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak back in 2018, while Hudson Young was whacked with a mammoth eight-game ban for an eye gouge on Adam Pompey in 2019.
Davis said it was important to move on after incidents like this happen in a match.
“Honestly, it’s like an error… You’ve got to be a goldfish, and I think the best players are goldfish about thing that they don’t want to remember and even good things,” Davis said.
“You just have to keep your focus on the next job, so whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing that’s just happened, you really just need to look at the next thing.”
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