League: Warriors to make late call on Price

Warriors coach Tony Kemp will make a late call on what part Steve Price plays in the game against the Raiders tomorrow night and who makes way for him.

Karl Te Mata or Richard Villasanti are the players most likely to drop off the bench.

Price will be playing his first game in nine weeks.

The Raiders have been denied an appeal against the eight-week spear tackle ban which has ended captain Simon Woolford's season.

Woolford would have been out for three weeks had he not had such a bad record for tackle offences.

The Raiders argued that the ban was against natural justice because the penalty was automatically decided by the NRL's demerit points system and not on the actual offence.

But in his decision, judiciary panel chairman Judge Greg Woods said the NRL's rules were sufficiently flexible so as to rule out any manifestly unjust result.

"It may be that at some point this issue results in a [conclusion] that whatever emphasis there is on pre-determined penalty must in some case give way to recognition of blatant unfairness. I am not ruling out the possibility that the rules might allow that."

But Woolford did not have such a case because of his repeat offending, Woods said.

"The reality is that Mr Woolford, although a highly regarded player by his club and no doubt by many members of the public, has a record of offences before the NRL tribunal which is noteworthy.

"Within the last two years he has been penalised on six different occasions for careless high tackles ranging from grade one to grade three."

It was because of this persistent offending and the fact that it was a spear tackle that the penalty was eight weeks.

"The protection of players from dangerous throws is a paramount consideration in the application of the rules. It is clear that ... serious injury can occur when tackles such as this take place," Woods said.

Matt Adamson, 33 next month, returns tomorrow night for the Raiders after four weeks out with a rib cartilage problem.

He has just announced that he has been appointed strength and conditioning trainer for new French Super League club Les Catalans, the team Stacey Jones is also joining.

Newcastle centre Mark Hughes has also agreed terms with the French outfit.

The Raiders have re-signed Terry Martin for two more years, one of four players they have on the long-term injury list.

* Storm halfback Matt Orford has signed with Manly for four years. The Sea Eagles have released Sam Harris to Wests Tigers and will not re-sign Chad Randall so they can fit Orford's reported A$380,000 ($425,000) pay under the salary cap.