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Similar to Peter Griffin’s one-time segment on Family Guy‘s news bulletin, in this article I will go through some things that I see in the NRL that really piss me off. And today it is players lying down to get penalties.
It is one of the NRL’s biggest issues right now. A number of rugby league greats have slammed it and it is becoming a plight on the game. Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson leads the charge in trying to have something done.
It comes after the Roosters’ two-point loss to St George Illawarra on Anzac Day. Those two points came after Dragons young gun Euan Aitken stayed down after being hit across the shoulders by Dylan Napa, and Gareth Widdop kicked a penalty goal. This is not an isolated issue, it happens at most clubs and is recommended by some coaches.
Speaking on Channel Nine‘s The Sunday Footy Show, league greats Brad Fittler, Peter Sterling and Darren Lockyer also weighed in on the debate. Fittler was especially livid, saying it was killing the game as a spectacle. He stated that players who stay on the ground should go off for a concussion test.
“If you are not concussed why would you lie on the ground with your eyes closed?” he asked.
“I can’t understand why he doesn’t leave the field. He is showing enough symptoms to tell someone on the sideline that he has been hit hard enough that he should go and have a rest.”
Sterling recommended that removing the video referee to rule on anything other than the in-goal could solve the problem. “If we take the video referee out of everything apart from in-goal situations we are not talking about obstructions anywhere near as much either.”
Sterling also noted hearing through referee microphones that when a player is hit hard, you can hear teammates yelling ‘stay down, stay down’.
Lockyer agreed that eliminating the use of the video ref would stop this trend.
“If the video ref is out of it, then they are not going to sit there to bide time to try and get a replay,” Lockyer said.
Another moment that got fans riled up this weekend came on Sunday when Cronulla hooker Michael Ennis stayed down after getting an accidental slap in the face. Thankfully common sense prevailed and Ennis was forced to play the ball.
There are two probable solutions here. One, that we take the advice of the greats and stop the video refs from ruling on anything outside the in-goal. Or two, keep the video referees in as they are now, but if a player doesn’t get hit high, penalise the attacking player.
Likewise, if he actually gets hit high, send him off for a mandatory concussion test. If he doesn’t go, then give a penalty. Otherwise if he plays on, penalise the club two competition points and $10,000.
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