Nathaniel Peteru: My one-match ban is tough to take, but I’ll come back stronger for Leeds Rhinos

IT IS tough not being able to play this weekend.
Nathaniel Peteru breaks through the Wakefield defence on Easter Monday.Nathaniel Peteru breaks through the Wakefield defence on Easter Monday.
Nathaniel Peteru breaks through the Wakefield defence on Easter Monday.

I have only missed one game this year – which was the first one – and I wanted to keep my run going.

Nobody likes being suspended, but I am going to take the guilty verdict and the one-match ban.

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It wasn’t worth the risk of challenging it, because the ban could have been increased.

I’ve looked at the incident, against Huddersfield on Good Friday, again, along with the coaching staff.

The player I tackled, Oliver Russell, his legs come up high, but I didn’t spear tackle him and there wasn’t any malice in it.

I took him down to the ground and he landed on his shoulder or his side.

Nathaniel Peteru.Nathaniel Peteru.
Nathaniel Peteru.
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At the end of the day it is the judiciary’s call, but it is a bit disappointing because you see a lot worse.

I’ve got to look forward now and I am just preparing to play next Friday against Salford.

I am going to use this week and next week to my advantage to get my body right and make sure I’m ready for the next game and the rest of the season.

I need to come back strong and help the boys because I won’t be able to do that this weekend.

Nathaniel Peteru is tackled by the Hull KR defence.Nathaniel Peteru is tackled by the Hull KR defence.
Nathaniel Peteru is tackled by the Hull KR defence.
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I think I have been going all right this year, I am starting and I have been playing the majority of games – all the time in the middle – and I am more than happy to do that for the team.

Hopefully I can keep improving, because that’s what rugby league is all about.

There’s a lot more to come from me and hopefully I can go to the next level over the final half of the season.

The same can be said for the team.

The first half against Huddersfield was the best we’ve played all year.

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We were up 30-0 at half-time and our job then was to keep our foot on the throat, but we didn’t do that.

That’s something we can fine-tune and work on and obviously we want to perform like that week-in and week-out.

Monday was disappointing, we wanted to kick on from the Huddersfield result and we didn’t.

We let the game slip away, it was ours for the taking and credit to Wakefield for hanging in there for the full 80, but it was definitely one that got away. It is frustrating we are so inconsistent, but what we have got to do is bring our best performances and our worst performances closer together so there’s not such a huge difference.

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This has been my first Easter period because I was injured last year. It is tough playing three games in 10 days and we’ve got a lot of banged up, bruised bodies from the past few weeks, but hopefully we can get the job done on Sunday against Hull KR because that is a big game. If we win we will go above them in the table and we need some breathing space, we need a boost.

I’ve seen that referees have been told to clamp down on what’s been happening at the ruck – players throwing the ball at defenders to get a penalty.

It will be interesting to see how that works out, but I think it’s a good thing.

I know in the NRL it used to happen when I was there, if a player’s caught in the ruck throw the ball into the defender on the ground.

I can see where the game’s coming from, wanting to get rid of it – it’s not a good look.