Bupa got 4 weeks and it was 2 charges, not 1.
1 of them was 3 weeks for dissent - abuse against officials has always been dimly viewed. I don’t see how the two events can be compared personally.
It's called assault, if the trainers weren't there Hetherington would've continued on with it or at the very least gave that perception.
Example below, even though they're boxers and punch each other during a fight, all those conditions are off once the fight has ended (or in Hetherington's case, when he left the field)
en.wikipedia.org
As the two men waited for the results, Butler asked for his gloves to be cut off. After Grant was announced the winner, Butler stood in his corner seeming unpleased by the decision. Grant then made his way over to Butler to congratulate him for his effort, but Butler sucker punched the unsuspecting Grant with a right hook that dropped him to the floor. Grant lay dazed on the ring mat and bleeding from the mouth while broadcasters Bob Papa and Teddy Atlas called out for Butler to be arrested on assault charges. ...... and Butler was eventually convicted of assaulting Grant and spent four months in Rikers Island.
There's no room for those actions and the NRL should have come down hard on it, it's up there with the highest offence IMO. Because had a punch up had actually happened off the field, that's when the police become involved for assault.