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Des Hasler had a novel suggestion during the post-match conference, after the Panthers had beaten his Bulldogs 24-18 at Penrith last Sunday in the opening round of the NRL.
“You know what you should do?” Des asked, “get Tony Archer in here, referee Ben Cummins and his sidekick, and ask them what they thought about the game because they had a pretty good input into today.
“It would be a better press conference, that’s for sure.”
With that parting comment, Hasler pushed back his chair, and disappeared. A dramatic and sudden end to the press conference.
As for Hasler’s suggestion, he was fined a suspended $10,000 for breaking the new NRL guidelines banning any comment about referees.
Pathetic paranoia.
Todd Greenberg, the NRL’s head of footbal, is a mighty fine administrator, but his lame explanation of why Hasler was fined added to the paranoia.
“It’s not about protection, it’s about supporting the match officials,” Greenberg said.
Spare us the cover-up. Every rugby league coach, player, fan, and the media will readily support referees if they were up to scratch. But they won’t be told by the NRL to support refs as a virtual demand. The refs must earn that respect.
Sure they are going to make mistakes, just as coaches and players do. But hiding referees as a protected species will never be accepted.
Hasler never made any criticism about last Sunday’s refs. All he did was suggest if coaches and players must front the media after full-time, refs should front as well.
“Totally impractical,” was Archer’s dismissive reply.
Recall Archer was a prominent ref in his day, with 319 first-grade games between 1999 and 2012, 13 Origins, and 9 internationals. He was a top-class and worthy appointment as the NRL’s referees elite performance manager.
But his well-paid job comes into question if the refs don’t improve and are never allowed to face the media.
Everyone else has to do just that, right from the top – John Grant as chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, and Dave Smith as CEO of the Commission, and as a direct result, the NRL
Both have been grilled by the media at various stages when they make rare public appearances. They could be described as being so transparent they are almost invisible.
But to their credit they face the music, as do coaches, selectors, and players who are all very, very visible.
The NRL has more than enough problems off the field to fine one of rugby league’s finest for telling the truth.