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Breaking: Players unfairly forced to play the ball correctly in 2018

Cam Smith talks to Gerard Sutton. (Channel Nine).
Roar Guru
19th February, 2018
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Stunning scenes at Rotorua on the weekend saw several first-grade rugby league players penalised for not playing the ball correctly.

In a shocking twist, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg’s promise to crack down on illegitimate play-the-balls means that now players will have to roll the ball with their foot.

Aren’t players of today under enough pressure to perform without the added stress of actually attempting to genuinely play the ball correctly?

New Zealand rugby league great Darryl Halligan echoed similar sentiments following the Warriors versus Storm trial, where both sides were pinned for failing to get boot to ball.

Halligan voiced concerns that it may be too difficult for players to change their ways as “they’ve been doing it for so long… you basically have to re-teach yourself”.

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Cronulla Sharks prop Andrew Fifita is one of the worst offenders when it comes to lazy attempts. Halligan is undoubtedly right in this instance – it is completely unreasonable to expect Fifita, who is being paid approximately $800,000 a season, to go out of his way to practice striking the ball backwards with his feet instead of simply rolling it through.

In addition, how can players be required to remember all the way back to their childhood, when they were first taught how to play the ball correctly? It is completely absurd that such difficult demands are placed upon professional athletes.

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Fortunately, there are videos out there that should be of assistance to players struggling with this rule, such as the following video:

I guess we will know by the close of 2018 whether Todd Greenberg took his position of authority one step too far in making this extreme request.

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