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Watching two players punching the crap out of each other is a turn-off for me, but this new phenomenon of players slapping other players because they don’t want to risk throwing a punch bothers me as well.
Tim Grant and Keith Galloway clearly wanted to get it on in the game between South Sydney and Wests Tigers on Sunday, but knew they had to try to hold themselves back.
Galloway finally reacted to Grant getting right in his face by slapping him.
It wasn’t what either player would have wanted to do to sort things out, but we’re seeing more of it since throwing a punch is going to get you 10 minutes in the sin bin and potentially prove expensive to your team.
I don’t know the answer.
Sometimes, I wish it could be like the NFL, where you get plenty of huffing and puffing and pushing and shoving, but where it would clearly be madness to start throwing punches at an opposition player.
You risk breaking your own hand on his helmet, so you don’t lose face by not doing something that anyone can see would be stupid. Not so in league, where the level of frustration among many players at not being able to sort out differences the old-fashioned way is clear.
The thing is, after you’ve basically outlawed punching, it would be seen as irresponsible if you went back the other way by relaxing the laws to allow players to start throwing a few to release their frustrations.
Could the fabric of the game change over time? Will the new generation of players coming through be more in tune with the no-punching edict and not be so bothered by it? And would that lead to the fans not missing it so much either?
It’s asking for a lot in such a testosterone-charged game.
Some problems in rugby league would appear easier to solve, yet for some reason they remain just as difficult. I try not to criticise referees unless it’s an extreme case. They’re too easy a target. It’s a fact of life that they’re going to make mistakes – just like players and coaches do.
But the video referee is a whole different story.
Referees have to make decisions in real time. Video referees have the benefit of replays, yet they still get some obvious decisions wrong. I didn’t think there was any doubt Newcastle forward Korbin Sims knocked on when he got a hand to the ball in the lead-up to Dane Gagai’s try against Gold Coast on Sunday night.
But after watching numerous replays the video referee – Gavin Badger, in this case – ruled the ball had gone backwards off Korbin’s hand. If I can’t see properly, I’ve got plenty of mates.
The controversy over some players being cleared to return to the field after wobbling off concussed will continue until the league takes such decisions out of the hands of the clubs and appoints independent medical officers to games.
This is all about perception. Everyone might be doing everything to the letter of the law, but sometimes when you see a player return you can’t help but wonder if the questions they ask them in these concussion tests are too easy.
Why is the playing surface at Brookvale Oval so bad? It’s a question that deserves an answer, but I’ve got a more intriguing one. What is wrong with the North Queensland Cowboys?
They were woeful against Brisbane. The Broncos had done nothing in attack to frighten anybody in the first two rounds. They only beat Cronulla because the Sharks were even worse. But against the Cowboys they racked up 44 points.
The score represented almost a point for every tackle North Queensland missed – 47. Winning is going to have to become a whole lot more important to the Cowboys before they can hope to actually start getting a few.
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