New Zealand hardman Jeremy Smith has slammed the decision to appoint English referee Phil Bentham for Sunday’s one-off rugby league Test against Australia.
Smith fears Bentham’s appointment could see the game descend into the type of bash, barge and wrestling affair that encouraged the NRL to adopt two referees and speed the game up.
The Cronulla second-rower went as far as calling for Australian referees to take control of the biggest international fixtures.
And despite his reputation as one of the game’s tough guys, Smith said he was no fan of the tradition of letting players get away with more foul play on the international stage.
When asked if he liked that style of play, Smith replied: “Not really … we’re in Australia so I reckon (Australian referees) should be reffing most of the games.
“They quicken up the game a bit and I suppose it’s a bit more entertaining than the bash and barge that you get from the English refs.
“It certainly makes it a bit tougher.”
Both coaches signalled their intentions for the Newcastle fixture early when they picked monster benches, with New Zealand’s Fuifui Moimoi, Sika Manu and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves ready to face off with aggressive Aussie rookies Keith Galloway and Tony Williams.
But Smith insisted the players didn’t look at the looser interpretations of the rules as a chance to push the boundaries in tackles.
“Not necessarily, you don’t go in thinking (you can get away with a bit more),” he said.
“You know how the game is going to pan out early on when you’ve got the ref there not blowing penalties, it’s just a part that you have to adapt to isn’t it?
“… I know it will be tough and physical through the middle, but I’m not too sure what (Australia have) got planned.
“I think the team that we’ve picked is going to be quite a hard team to beat, we’ll just have to contain what the Aussies throw at us.”
Smith has enjoyed a well-earned break since Cronulla failed to make the finals this year, giving him time to rest after seven seasons of long campaigns involving finals football with Melbourne and later St George Illawarra.
The same cannot be said for Warriors captain Simon Mannering, who will be lining up for his 30th match of the season on Sunday.
But Mannering, who continues to battle a knee complaint, insists he is still fresh enough to take on a Four Nations campaign as fellow NRL stars withdraw from the Kiwis and Australian squads.
“To be honest, I’m probably not as bad as what I thought I’d be,” Mannering said.
“My sort of niggles are ones that are manageable, it definitely won’t hinder me going into next season.
“I had no decision to make, I was always going to come along to have the honour to play for the Kiwis.”
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