Be wary, rugby league fans, be very wary. It’s all going to change in the next few seasons. The referees got the decision wrong a couple of Wednesdays ago and we are all going to pay for it.
If Paul Gallen gets sent off, nothing changes but he didn’t and things have.
The rule makers have rushed to protect the image that they muddied in the wake of the controversial Origin I boil-over.
I’m all for the game adapting to keep with the times, so to speak, but will change upon change cause more headaches than they are trying to elucidate?
Image protection has gone so far that the rules have changed one game into a three game series…it doesn’t make sense to me.
Furthermore, in creating the new rule of automatic sin-binning for any punch thrown, the NRL has stopped right in the middle of legalising and illegalising the act.
*whistle blown* Glenn, mate, you’ve come in and punched him – have 10 minutes in the bin to think about it.
I’m not sent off?
No.
On report?
Er..no. Just have a breather and come back.
Sweet.
I’m not saying that I want punches to be a part of the game and non-punishable, just that there needs to be a deep line in the sand between what’s acceptable and unacceptable.
The NRL won’t stop here. We’ve seen it time and time again in other codes and there’s nothing to suggest it won’t happen to the greatest game of all.
The rules change every season – even in the middle of and throughout the season itself.
Rugby league will continue to be censored to keep the masses happy and to avoid stepping on toes.
Far too often the lines: ‘my children watch rugby league’ and ‘what sort of example is it setting?’ are used to compromise the uniqueness of the game.
I know the players have somewhat of a duty to set a standard from the top down but to an extent is it not the responsibility of parents, local coaches and/or school teachers to set their own rules to keep control?
These rule changes will keep the players and coaches on constant watch and the game will slowly drift further and further away from its old, instinctual self. Rugby league is changing and, soon, will never be the same.
Pete
Guest
Thinking about it some more, I think we will see a lot more players baiting other players to start fights in the hope they will throw a punch and get sent off... Then there will be even more rules come in to police that...
oikee
Guest
Thew best 3 games on the one day i have watched all year were on Sunday, the Storm the Rabbits the Warriors, all won, and guess what, not a punch thrown. No shoulder charges either, just good hard fast footy, like it should be played. Gallen caused all these problems, and the refs helped as well by not binning him. The point is nobody wants the game turned into some sort of tit for tt revenge centre to get payback for the last revenge act, and this is exactly what would have happened. Gallen has been heard on more than one accuasion to say this is Origin, it is diffrent rules, this is origin, we are allowed to do that, and he stepped over the line of decency when he thought, this is origin, i can punch on without retribution. I dont buy what Gallen is trying to seel, the mums dont buy it, society does not buy it, they pick up the pieces. Gallen acts was wrong, if this happened on the street, there would be a price to pay. While other codes, millions around Australia know this is wrong, this code allows all and sundry to keep it on the ground while everyone gets a free kick, and that is much the same as what Gallen was trying to sell you, free shots at thuggery. Anyone with any common sense should never be thinking of buying what Gallen is trying to sell, as you can now see, it will only ever end in tears.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
The shoulder charge has been banned for a long time in junior competitions. That's where those lines of "But think of the children go astray." They have already thought of the children but the grown men who play professionally should be allowed to play the same way the game was played for over 100 years.
Johnno
Guest
Think of it like this. Rugby league has basically completely banned. -The Biff, shoulder charge, spear tackles(always banned but far more enforced) , tackles over the horizontal, sly cheap shots at the end of each tackle, throwing punches going into to defend your teammates,chicken wing, (grapple tackle I don't know if they have). All these things to ban are not bad things. The shoulder charge is debatable, as very were actually done. When the shoulder charge did connect the hit's could be very hard and injuries did happen, but they offered the intimidation factor. -Is rugby league becoming more like basketball. Perhaps. Basketball used to be very physical in the 70's, 80's and 90's, hard fouls on a hard floor, lots of fights. Detroit Pistons bad boys, and was watered down by the start of the 2000's. So the Tommy Rodunikous's, John Hopoate's, Wally lewis, spud carrol, mark geyer, chief Harrogan, SBW shoulder charges, frank Pritchard shoulder charges, pushed to the dust bin's of history. And Greg Dowling and Kevin Tamati Lang park fight. But in saying that it will encourage, more kids to play as it will be a safer sport and teenager's as well. And actual footy will be played, not all the niggle and street fight culture, of the last 100 years.