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The NRL decided to implement the Gallen rule because the new administration felt it wasn’t a good look for the game. But apparently elbows to the face are not a bad image.
At least in some part, I assume, the decision was made because the NRL doesn’t want mothers to see similar scenes to Origin I and deciding they don’t want their children playing such a brutal sport.
I admit it, I do love seeing a good dust-up in Origin but if the NRL says they have to go, I have to adjust.
I question though why the NRL thinks punch-ups are a bad image but elbows to the face are not.
I am struggling to comprehend how Billy Slater got off without punishment except an on-field penalty.
I simply do not understand how an elbow hitting someone’s face is different to a fist from a punch or a swinging arm in a tackle.
Contrast Slater’s punishment (one solitary penalty) with the farce which ensued a few moments later in which four players were sin-binned.
I agree completely with Trent Merrin and Justin Hodges being binned.
The new rule clearly stated if you threw a punch you would be cooling off in the sheds for 10 minutes.
Merrin, in particular, deserved all he got because he started throwing them unprovoked, he wasn’t pushed off the tackled player, Paul Gallen was.
Hodges too could be clearly seen on replay throwing haymakers.
The farce began when Brent Tate and Greg Bird got sent off.
I can with Tate being binned simply because the ensuing punch-up wouldn’t have happened without his big shove on Gallen, though I would have been equally happy for him to remain on the field.
Why Greg Bird was sent off I have no idea because as far as I could see he wasn’t throwing any punches.
The repercussions of that fight left four in the bin and Trent Merrin got a week on the sidelines.
Whereas Billy Slater, who elbowed Mitchell Pearce in the face, was placed on report and then cleared of any wrongdoing.
As with so many rules in rugby league, they are enforced inconsistently and the new fighting rule is just one of them.
I feel that Slater’s actions were equally as bad as Trent Merrin’s.
If you’re going to send Greg Bird to the sin-bin for trying to break up a fight, not to mention Brent Tate for pushing a bloke, then why not Billy Slater for elbowing a bloke?
Unfortunately, I don’t see anything happening in the future.
The Gallen rule will stand and the next time there is a fight anyone within 10 metres of it will be sweating that they are not the next innocent party to have a breather on the sidelines while incidents like Slater’s continue to go unpunished.
And as a biased Blues fan I feel sure NSW will somehow end up on the wrong side of the rule though I would love to be proved wrong.
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