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The NRL match review committee has become the code’s biggest farce.
Canberra’s David Shillington has somehow escaped a penalty for an attempted head butt on Tigers’ prop Aaron Woods and is free to play against Manly this Sunday.
Shillington was sent from the field by referee Jared Maxwell in 79th minute of Monday night’s thriller at GIO Stadium.
His attempt did not connect and he was subsequently charged with a grade one contrary conduct offence. With such a grading, an early guilty plea means he won’t miss a single game.
The prop’s Houdini-like escape has angered rugby league fans around the nation as head-butting is one of the most serious misdemeanours that can be committed on a football field.
I share the fans’ anger.
It wasn’t as if the Canberra player’s actions weren’t picked up by the cameras. The attempted head butt was there for all to see and the referee took decisive action, waving him from the field.
A send-off is a rarity in the NRL these days, and it was reasonable to assume that the guilty party would be handed a three or four-match penalty. But even though the guilty party’s blow failed to connect, there was definite intent, yet he copped nothing.
What kind of message are the match review people sending with such a lenient charge?
And there are many more questions that demand answering.
Is it okay to launch one’s head and 111kg frame at an opponent because you are frustrated at the match score or the opponent is giving some lip? Will youngsters who saw this blatant and serious act imitate the first grade star this weekend? Did Shillington cop a mere slap on the wrist because he is widely regarded as a ‘good bloke’ and is not rated among the NRL’s so-called bad boys? Would the penalty be the same if the incident happened the week before the NRL grand final?
I do not have the answers, but I’d love to hear an explanation from the match review panel members. But you can bet that won’t be happening, as seems to be the case with almost all matters concerning the judiciary.
The whole judiciary process in rugby league has become a laughing stock. One week Kane Evans commits an illegal shoulder charge and gets off scot-free. The following week, Willie Mason stands his ground, gets charged and cops a two-week suspension.
There is zero consistency coming from the code’s judicial powers. I have more faith in TV weather forecasters and racehorse tipsters.
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