The decision by NRL Elite Referees Performance Manager Daniel Anderson to sin bin any players guilty of throwing a punch mid year is disgustingly inappropriate and a blatant attempt to take the focus off his sub-standard referees.
It also appears as though the NRL have replaced one reactionary CEO for another.
All of this stems from the overreaction from State of Origin 1 where Paul Gallen used Nate Myles as a human punching bag.
In the hoopla that followed, the person most affected by this (Myles) claimed, “How good was it!? That’s what people want to see!”
That’s right Nate – that is what people want to see!
Any reasonable Rugby League fan was more concerned about Paul Gallen’s swinging arm in the tackle on Myles while he was being held by two other players, not by his decision to throw a punch when one on one.
Gallen was put on report for the swinging arm and what were the ramifications for this illegal action – absolutely nothing. Instead the league was influenced by media hype and suspended Gallen for a couple of punches that didn’t do any damage at all.
In the post game analysis, all we heard was that Gallen’s three-punch combo is the reason why mums won’t let their boys play Rugby League. Please do not believe that.
The reason little Johnny isn’t allowed to play league is because he is forced to play against Garry Goliath. Does anyone honestly think for one minute that mum thinks there might be a fight so that is why Johnny can’t play!? Mum is more worried by the size of the opposition and the fact that some of the opposition kids have about 20 kilos on her little boy.
It seems that Rugby League is so worried about being a more viable option for kids to play than Aussie rules that they have forgotten the roots to what drew kids to it in the first place.
League is a tough sport played in the schoolyard where your aim is to get over your combatants. When you are playing a tough game, sometimes things get a little heated and result in physical confrontation.
To combat this all the NRL had to do was increase their education and promote that violence or illegal play in any form within under 18s and below will not be tolerated and suspensions will be enforced.
Instead, we read that NRL heroes influence kids and if an NRL player throws a punch then the kids will as well. Rubbish!
Anderson and CEO Dave Smith need to understand that the NRL is the professional level of this great game and the brutal nature of this sport is increased ten fold when this level is reached. I
f two players come to blows in a State of Origin match then it is absurd to compare it to an under-8s game. Two men having a fight on the Rugby League field isn’t the same as a fight in Kings Cross at 2am. Have we really slipped that far in intelligence to not be able to distinguish between these two examples?
This article is not condoning pre-meditated illegal attacks but portrays a fan’s severe disappointment that this great game is being sanitised to the point where two grown men can’t put up their dukes and resolve an issue one on one without fear of being sin binned.
It seems that in the NRL’s attempt to draw in a small amount of new fans they may be pushing away the majority of old ones.
Gavin Cooper
Guest
The bottom line is some kids banned by their mum from rugby league because older payers occasionally fight (albeit very briefly) will end up playing the game when the get older. I did ! Brought up by a single mum an surrounded by a family of females the odds were against it but my passion prevailed. And for those who due to mums' intervention, play a less physical sport, good for them, aussie rules, table tennis, snooker all need players. There's enough to go round, and if, in years to come numbers are down, so be it. The game will recover, it has survived greater dramas than this. I.E. super league. Reluctant mergers, etc. And most rugby league mums understand the game and I dare say a number of them have the odd wry smile at some of these bleeding hearts boo hoo-ing
kurt
Guest
well thats what u got from now on nothing but skirts on the field
Paul
Guest
Well said djcooper!
solly
Guest
As a man, yes...
oikee
Guest
I have been watching crowds and veiwers figures this season. Instead of sticking my head in a bucket of sand and refuse to look, i have been watching the game throw itself into a big pile of mud each week. With Anderson totally buggering up the refs and video refs, the game has just gotten worse and worse and worse, to a point i have shut it down myself, and i am a diehard. That is how i know it's in trouble. The Gallen and Daley put the iceing on the cake, Dave Smioth has been behind the scenes in damage controll trying to repair, as Stupid Gallen continues to sprout rubbish and nonsense that no true league fans can stomach. Too many amatuers reporting on the game, running the game, and dragging it through the mud each week. of course crowds and veiwers are down, walking away.
kurt
Guest
what would you prefer grown women
Edward Kelly
Guest
Jez from all these comments you'd think ever NRL was a version of cage fighting. Talk about a holier than holy over-reaction to a couple of punches. How often are punches actually thrown in NRL games now? You'd be an idiot to start a fight. But now.... All this means is now a player will make sure the sin bin is worthwhile by making sure more than one punch connects. Whilst not condoning excessive violence sometimes a Qld grub needs sorting out eg Myles, because the refs were not. Sometimes a knee-jerk reaction has unforeseen consequences.
Exocet
Guest
That's what you get when you do the draw in November... no-one knows how teams are going to go early in the season - that's its attraction and thanks to the tanned one Friday night was a close game. You are commenting on Monday morning - if you made this comment on Friday it would have greater merit and no I don't work for Channel Nine..
Football_illiterate
Guest
nailed it djcooper.. this is what bothers me the most tho: "It also appears as though the NRL have replaced one reactionary CEO for another.". coz thats exactly what happened and we are clearly now back to managing the game based on hysterical overreactions.. you would think a bank exec if anyone would be able to stand a bit firmer in the face of hysteria..
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
I remember SOO because of tries like Billy Slater's at suncorp,his chip over the to top,regather and kick again over the top and then score.The try scored in the last minute going through almost a dozen sets of hands at the SFS and finally scored by Qld.I remember teh ries and big tackles more than I remember the moments of madness. I remember Steve Price being knocked down like a bag of spuds,and thought of one word pathetic. The game may lose the fisticuff freak fans,but the junior game will become more inviting for parents and be more saleable to sponsors,and dare I say it perhaps bring new people to the game. Judging by some of the comments,it would appear if there is no fisticuffs in a game of rl be it NRL or SOo or Internationals ,it is lacking .16,000 people at Cairns may well have a differing view after yesterdays'non fisty game of NRL.
turbodewd
Guest
If I want football I watch NFL or NRL. If I want punching I watch UFC, coz they know what theyre doing. Punching in NRL, while moderately interesting on occasions, isnt why i watch the sport. We will win more fans than lose fans by stricter enforcement of existing rules. 10min in the bin, no dramas. Gallen should have served 10.
Barry
Guest
I think I can solve both of the NRL’s immediate problems – punching and the pathetic nature of golden point games. Certainly ban punches like Gallen’s and send the miscreant to the bin for ten but, to appease the biff lovers, change Golden Point to Golden MMA. Pull a number out of a hat and the two players wearing that number fight to a knockout or submission. Some fans will then look forward to drawn games.
Daniel Szabo
Roar Guru
my thoughts exactly
solly
Guest
Obviously not but he is right about a very important thing, though: the game is run by knuckle-heads. Rugby league may have had its hands tied by Channel 9 and other vested interests over the last 30 years but whose fault is that?
solly
Guest
Fair enough, pre-meditated was the wrong choice of words. But what do you want to do, cater to the do-badders? "...2 grown men having a stink as a result of frustration..." Perhaps 'grown men' may have been the wrong choice of words too, lol
Dogs Of War
Roar Guru
Most of it's due to Channel 9 picking the wrong match ups. Too many poor performing teams like the Dragons, Tigers and Parra on the box, when people want to watch the best teams going around. This weekend was the perfect example. 3 cracking matches, Souths v Titans, Warriors vs Roosters, and Bulldogs v Sea Eagles. Only one of those was on free to air. I think the NRL needs to have a word with nine and foxtel, and say we will help you get a good spread of matches and teams. This will see the ratings increase as more variety on free to air is available.
djcooper
Guest
How are 2 grown men having a stink as a result of frustration 'pre-meditated' violence? Last time I checked pre-meditated violence refers to the cattledog call which occurred over 15 years ago. This rule is targeting a one-on-one altercation (which happens irregularly) and is a complete overreaction trying to please the do-gooders claiming that violence on the sporting field is responsible for society problems.
uPelican
Guest
These blokes are being paid to provide entertainment. The question is, what is the content of the entertainment that the producers want to provide?. The producers say whatever else it has; they don't want biff. The actors have to go along with that or get another job, or play somewhere else if they disagree with the producer. You know, if you watch the American football, you never see it. They are paid a motza. The players are smart enough to know that are making more money in that game than down at McDonalds.
uPelican
Guest
These blokes are being paid to provide entertainment. The question is, what is the content of the entertainment that the producers want to provide?. The producers say whatever else it has; they don't want biff. The actors have to go along with that or get another job, or play somewhere else if they disagree with the producer. You know, if you watch the American football, you never see it. They are paid a motza. The players are smart enough to know that are making more money in that game that down at McDonalds.
reality bites
Guest
Interestingly reports in the Daily Terrorgraph claim a total of 1,500,927 fewer people have tuned in to Nine and Fox Sports league telecasts over the opening 13 rounds. That represents a ratings drop of 2.9 per cent on the first half of last season. Maybe it is time to reach out to new fans.