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It occurred to me recently that I couldn’t actually remember the last time I witnessed a send-off in a game of rugby league.
My mind immediately raced back to “the good old days” where it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. I pondered that perhaps it’s good thing, that the game has indeed been cleaned up a hell of a lot.
With the money and professionalism that is involved at the elite level of the game today, the theory that one may be far less likely to “lose their cool” in the heat of battle is plausible. Clubs, coaches, players, fans – few would tolerate a “brain explosion” which led to a send-off and cost their team victory.
I agree that the game has become cleaner, but I also couldn’t recall a match where I haven’t seen a player placed on report by the referee. Granted, some of these instances where players are put on report seem over-the-top and unnecessary, a penalty often more than suffices for the infringement. However, swinging arms, dropped knees, careless and reckless high shots are all still happening out on the field every week.
I understand the referees have it tough, are under enormous pressure, and are scrutinised for every decision they make on the field. I’m not having a dig at referees, but question whether the options the referees have at their disposal are being used adequately to counter these on-field offences.
Referees are under too much pressure and are therefore extremely reluctant to ever send a player from the field as it would create far too much controversy. It seems it is far easier to place the offender on report and let the judiciary sort it out. Much the same way as when the video ref came in, we slowly saw less and less referees award tries on the spot, to the point where virtually every decision was sent to the man in the box upstairs.
Last year’s referees boss Daniel Anderson made what I believe a fantastic call by putting the onus back on referees. Now, before they go to the video ref, they first have to deem whether they thought it was in fact a try or not. And while we are still not getting it 100per cent right, I think that most fans would agree the system is working a lot better. It has given the referee more ascendency in on-field decision making, which has been a giant plus.
Whether a similar thing could be done regarding blatant foul play is highly debatable, but it seems harder and harder for players to even get sin-binned, let alone sent off in matches these days.
I’m not implying that we need to send more players off for nothing, but observing the fact we haven’t been seeing as many send-offs.
Are referees simply under too much pressure to actually send someone from the field?
This leads us to the question and validity of the 18th man. When a player is rubbed out of a match – foul play or not – how long will it be before we see the 18th man implemented? Or should clubs be expected to “suck it up” and remain disadvantaged for the match’s duration in an era when the NRL is promoting equality across its competition?
With player safety paramount in today’s sporting world, and the ongoing debates in rugby league regarding the shoulder charge, concussion rule, lifting and various dirty tackling/wrestling manoeuvres, many feel it is high time for the NRL to take a tougher stand.
I was disappointed to see the shoulder charge outlawed and believe it was a great part of the game. It served a purpose. Apart from fans loving to see the big hits, little can lift a side more than when a teammate serves up a bone-crunching rattler.
In saying that, a shoulder charge that comes into contact with an opponents head is a massive no-no and must be dealt with accordingly. However, I still cannot see why the two cannot be distinguished and actioned respectively. As for lifting, cannonballs, chicken wings and grappling, they serve no purpose and should be rubbed out of our great game altogether.
Referees should be dealt with a reminder that the sin-bin and send-off rules are there for a reason.
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