The Roar
The Roar

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The judiciary should acknowledge not all games are equal

Roar Rookie
18th September, 2014
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Tariq Sims is set to miss five matches, but should finals games count for more than one? (Photo: www.photosport.co.nz)
Roar Rookie
18th September, 2014
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After an early guilty plea for a shoulder charge on Justin Hodges, North Queensland forward Tariq Sims was hit with 525 penalty points. Every 100 points cost one game.

If the Cowboys win their next two matches he misses out on a semi-final, a preliminary final, and a grand final, and two games for his new side – Newcastle – next year.

If the Cowboys lose this weekend, Sims misses one game for the Cowboys and four for Newcastle next year.

For Sims, 200 points could be worth a preliminary final and a grand final for the club he made his first grade debut with, or Rounds 1 and 2 of the regular season with a new club.

During the State of Origin period Josh Reynolds faced the possibility of missing the second game for a dangerous throw on Brent Tate in game one.

He told media at the time, “I don’t even want to think about missing Game 2. I’ll truly be devastated.”

The charge was eventually downgraded, and Reynolds was cleared to play.

Reynolds would also have missed a club game , however I didn’t see any media releases or interviews where he complained about missing that. Reynolds placed a higher value on the Origin game than the club game, and I would suggest every player in league who isn’t Jamie Lyon would feel the same way.

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There would have been enormous pressure on the judiciary panel from the NSWRL to downgrade the charge on Reynolds, and many thought he got off lightly.

So why not acknowledge the value of games to players when sentencing them? I don’t know what the perfect value system would be, but surely some games are worth more than 100 points.

Perhaps make rep and finals games worth 200 points, and if the player gets somewhere in between 100 and 200 they miss the next regular season game? It could also take some pressure off the judiciary before big games.

What do you think Roarers? I feel like players already play State of Origin as if there are different rules, would the finals become the same if players thought they could get away with more?

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