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As the fallout from the 60 Minutes interview with Alex McKinnon continues, I was left scratching my head about how we ever let Cameron Smith get in such hot water post-tackle.
As we were shown over and over again, the culprits in the injury to McKinnon were Melbourne Storm prop forward Jordan McLean and the Bromwich brothers, who contributed through their hold of the upper body.
Smith played no part in it, yet it was what he said afterwards that has gained so much attention.
The tackle became ugly and the referees were very quick to identify the problem.
“Lifting – he’s put him in a dangerous spot here,” was the first communication to come through the referees’ on-field microphones.
It very soon escalated as Knights and Storm players came together with McKinnon lying helpless on the turf.
“Cameron, take them back for us please mate,” said referee Gerard Sutton to Storm captain Smith.
You can judge for yourself what you think of what was being said on the field.
“Beau! Willie, you’re not in trouble yet, but you will be…” Willie Mason made a pest of himself in front of Smith’s face, before the focus again turned to the injured player.
“Cameron, let this happen first, mate – go away.”
Sutton was trying to clear the opposing sides from the area where McKinnon was being treated ever more carefully by up to eight medical staff. At this stage everybody was concerned with the injured player’s condition, particularly as he cried out that he couldn’t feel his legs over and over.
However, nobody thought there were going to be lifelong implications for the young Knights player. Everyone – teammates, opposing players, commentators and match officials – all hoped what was being done (neck brace, stretcher) was precautionary.
What it did was allow several minutes of vacant television broadcast time. Fox Sports showed some replays of the tackle before focussing on shots of the Newcastle bench, coach Wayne Bennett and Peter Mulholland in the coach’s box, and the stunned looks on the Storm players’ faces, Smith and McLean in particular.
Of course the video referees had vision of the tackle as well and were able to advise the on-field referees on their next course of action. They confirmed what the men with the whistles already knew, that McLean did the lifting and he would be the player placed on report.
In general NRL referees allow players – especially captains – to say too much on the football field. It’s a product of the more vocal sections of some NRL clubs and to a lesser extent the rugby league media; the misplaced idea that referees don’t show enough ‘respect’ to captains. It started a few years ago with the usual suspects – people like Des Hasler, Craig Bellamy and Robbie Farah.
Of course it’s all rubbish; players respect the referees and this is reciprocated. Yet the NRL and its referees have reacted to the sentiment. In order to avoid the ‘disrespect’ label, we now see lengthy addresses towards the referee while we all wait impatiently for the man with the whistle to tell the captain to stop talking and get on with the game.
This is where things started to get tangled for Cameron Smith.
There was silence for over five minutes while McKinnon was stabilised and then stretchered off AAMI Park. Ryan Hoffman approached Smith with something to say and I am not surprised he felt an obligation to his team to show some leadership on their behalf.
Once play was set to resume, Smith approached referee Gerard Sutton again to plead his case, presumably to protect McLean. It’s a professional approach to the game, an area in which Smith excels.
“I understand your point,” Sutton gently said to Smith, “but he’s lifted, and it’s into a dangerous position. It’s a penalty”.
Newcastle lined up their penalty kick, while Smith kept Gerry’s attention. Ever the diplomat, Gerard Sutton is the most mild-mannered referee in the game. Off the park you won’t meet a more pleasant, likeable person. On the park it’s both his strength and his weakness.
“Here’s the thing,” said Smith. “We’ve had two lifted tackles against us, where our boys were put in more dangerous positions that that – we can’t help that he ducked his head into the ground. It’s unfortunate and I don’t want to see that happen at any time in our game, but if he doesn’t duck his head, then that doesn’t happen. How can you penalise that?”
The referee tries to respond, when Smith interjects with, “So you’re telling me anyone who ducks their head into the ground from now on, it’s a penalty?”
The exchange lasted almost 40 seconds, and it should not have even lasted one tenth of that time. It took four seconds for Smith to say, “here’s the thing, we’ve had two lifted tackles against us…” which is where he should have been cut off, with Sutton saying, in a voice firmer and slightly louder than his usual caution, “Cameron – we have a player on a stretcher, it’s a penalty and on report.”
End of discussion. Shut the guy up before he runs off at the mouth, which in hindsight was a very poor look for the man and the game. Whether he knew it or not at the time, a player had suffered a broken neck and we had an opposing captain wanting to argue over whether a penalty was warranted.
Which is where some responsibility lies with the referees. Sure, if something needs explaining have a chat about it. If it’s a clear-cut penalty, let the whistle and the signal do the talking.
The irony is that in Smith getting ‘respect’ by saying what he wanted after the incident, he has in fact come out of it with much less respect.
Gerard Sutton will be the senior referee in Wednesday’s State of Origin decider at Suncorp Stadium. At some stage during the game Cameron Smith will, in his capacity as Queensland captain, confront Gerry.
The question is, will Smith be given enough rope to tie himself up in knots again? Or will Gerry simply say, “Forget it Cameron – there’s nothing to say.”
For the good of the game I like to think the latter. It’s far better to give the decision, get on with the game, and protect the players from looking foolish.
But I know that won’t be the case: rugby league isn’t respectful enough to trust the referee to do his job.
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