I have that charitable glow right now after a weekend where our noble whistleblowers received the sort of treatment which is normally proceeded by a shake of the head in disbelief and various mutterings about that particular person’s mental capacity.
So I can frame my current dilemma correctly, let’s step back from a moment.
It seems that ever since primitive man got up on his hind legs and started to walk around on planet Earth, there has been a school of thought that he did so in order for him to lumber over to his mates and whinge about the state of rugby league scrums.
Many a rugby fan would warm themselves with the knowledge that whilst they’d just sat through a dire exhibition of penalty goal kicking that existed only in the fringes of the social consciousness, they still had contested scrums.
And didn’t that get the punters through the gate.
Closer to home, “expert” panellists would be falling over themselves to bemoan the current scrum with the constant yapping of “what’s the point” and “in my day …”
I’ll admit, I never held much of an opinion on the scrum as a matter of national importance. It was like choosing the colour of napkins when hosting a party – it is hardly going to make a big difference in the wash up.
For the most part, my feelings on scrums were in line with the thinking of most young men on their romantic ambitions. Get in, get out.
However, seeing the hordes had presumably demanded a change, I was left thinking: well, if it shuts them up, all the better.
So you can imagine my surprise now that referees are again blowing scrum penalties, it has led to a whole new howl of protest. Honestly, it’s like enduring the condensed history of Tony Abbott’s political career.
Newcastle coach Rick Stone has declared that the new rules “will take the game backwards.”
I rather thought that was the point – to go back to when the game had contested scrums.
It was a bit of cheeky line by Rick because in the world of sports administration you are forever torn between taking the particular game back to its traditions and glory days and moving it forward to its grand new horizon.
Where was Rick to defend feeding the ball into the second row when the debate was being had?
But even worse has been the efforts of one Daley, L.
Yes, Laurie Daley was a great player, and I’m sure plenty of people will say great bloke. But for him to come out and bag referees for blowing scrum penalties with the blood curdling threat of “don’t turn us into rugby union” is a bit rich.
Daley has been one of the main offenders on moaning about scrums from his position as a Fox Sports commentator, but now the men in the middle are doing something about his gripe, he is one of the first to complain.
Referees could be permitted to ask “what’s the point?”
Daley i,s of course, the same man who applauded Chris Heighington in round one for his passion after he was sat on his backside by Jamal Idris but got up and went and gave Jamal some extras to ensure a penalty was given away.
The Bulldogs wandered down another 40 metres before starting another set.
“That’s the sort of passion you want to see,” exclaimed Daley, forgetting the overwhelming pattern in modern rugby league of penalties leading to tries.
“That’s what you want from your players.”
Anyone have any more questions about why NSW find themselves in the current state they are in?
Clearly, should we reach a later part of the season and we find ourselves no closer to any sort of solution, we may want to review this latest interpretation.
Surely after all the heart ache of its introduction, it’s worth persisting with. If anything, we may finally get an answer on whether rugby league needs the scrum.
Greg C
Guest
Scrums have been a total farce for decades. They get formed on the field but nobody is in any doubt about the outcome of each and every one; they are a joke. Either we have genuine scrums or not, not the show scrums of the last 30 years. Fix them or get rid of them. They are, or were, an integral part of the game, so they should be fixed. Perhaps one way of absolutely ensuring scrums are contested is for the refs to feed the scrums. Hell, hookers might actually have to perform their actual role! Heaven forbid. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Cleaning up the play the ball (including playing it on the mark) and off-sides from kicks are fine because a team gains an advantage from doing these things incorrectly. The scrum situation this year has been ludicrous. To have skinny little refs telling RL forwards how they should bind and pack is embarrassing. I've seen a couple of penalties awarded for 2nd rowers not having their arms around each other. Who cares ? If they want to tidy it up they could crack down on players breaking early from the scrum as it can lead to an unfair advantage but binding...? There was a scum in a game that Suttor reffed earlier this year where he gave a list of 10 instructions to the forward packs and then finally turned to the halfback and said "Come on, put it in" in a "what-the-hell-are-you-waiting-for" tone of voice. I think it's indicative of Harrigan being refs coach that these guys all now want to be the centre of attention. The refs job is to officiate the players playing the game...not to tell them how to play.
Jaceman
Guest
What do you expect - Yet Harrigan is running the referees now (with Raper). Harrigan decides what rules he is going to enforce - dont other codes have committees on laws of the game to decide interpretations. Obviously English RL referees will be refereeing differently let alone NZ and French ones. This quote from Roy masters which implies Harrigan used to fix games -SMH Wednesday 23/3 "Now that Billy Harrigan is in charge of NRL referees, it's no surprise the most egotistical whistleblower of the past 20 years has refashioned rugby league to match his own image. Billy was a low-penalty-count ref whose few blasts of the whistle were often directed at teams threatening to run away with the match. The result was a low-stoppage, high-energy, end-to-end game that was often not decided until the final minutes." I would have expected Harrigan to sue but nothing....
Boz
Guest
Great read Steve. Funny how Rick Stone whinges about the scrum penalties. Maybe he should have been watching his opposition who didn't give away any scrum penalties. Or maybe he should have a good hard look at himself for not instructing/coaching his players on how to correctly pack and feed a scrum. Overall I think the refs have done a great job too. They just need to perservere with enforcing the rules, and soon enough these guys will learn what to do. And touching on what Luke W said about the video referee. My opinion is that it should be changed to a challenge system on try scoring plays only. Each team is given two correct challenges for the match. Only the captain can challenge the decision or call for a video review. If his challenges prove that referee was correct, his team is then unable to challenge for the rest of the match.
The Link
Guest
Steve, great piece. Outside of the purists for either Rugby code I don't think most fans give two figs about scrums. And where does one start with Daley, L? Are the Fox producers even trying to make the man a better commentator? With half of his team in John Hunter Ward A and the big Tickler getting control of the club last night, I thnk R Stone has bigger issues than a few differential penalties.
Luke W
Guest
I have no problem with on-field referees and I don't think I ever will. They have a very tough job, there are so many different things they have to keep their eye on at once, but 95% of the time I think they make the right call. The two referee system has been a slight improvement for me, nothing dramatic but it has improved. The video referee is where I have my "default position of bile-spitting, stomach churning hatred". Week in, week out, these guys continue to make calls that baffle the mind. They have taken all the common sense and discretion out of refereeing, and it has turned parts of the game into a farce. Black and white rules have been put in place in areas where you can't have black and white rules (eg. control of the ball, obstruction). Instead of looking at a second man play for obstruction, the video refs have to look for contact between the dummy runner and the defender, whether the ball was passed behind the dummy runner or not, instead of just looking at the play and making a decision whether the defender was impeded from preventing the try. Controlling the ball and downward pressure for a try is even worse. They have completely butchered this facet of the game. Benefit of the doubt (which has somehow turned into beyond any reasonable doubt) and the use of super slo mo and various camera angles means that invariably you can find some doubt in anything to award the try. Anyway, I have taken this slightly off topic I suppose, but that's my rant of the day. Scrap the video and let the refs, ref.