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I was watching my team play the other other week, and cursing the ref for awarding the opposing team yet another penalty to piggyback them out of their own half, when a thought occurred to me – sometimes a penalty is just too much of an advantage.
The penalty in this case seemed dubious at best, yet the opposing team were allowed to find touch with a kick, start a fresh set of six in a good position, and were then good enough to score.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that the penalty system as it currently stands is grossly unfair, in two ways.
Sometimes a penalty is just too harsh a punishment, like in this instance, when a team is on the fourth or fifth tackle and still inside their own half.
At other times, a penalty is too small a reward, like when a team receives one on the first tackle as they are attacking the opposition’s tryline, with defenders still scrambling to get themselves back onside or in good position.
It’s been reported many times that the Roosters, in particular, are happy to concede a penalty in situations such as this; that in fact they use it as a tactic. I don’t want to pick on the Roosters, but if that is indeed the case, then it’s pretty clear that the current penalty system is out of whack.
When a team concedes a penalty like this, we used to call it a professional foul. Nowadays, referees seem extremely reluctant to call anything a professional foul. With that being the case, I think it’s time to look at changing the penalty system.
I suggest we forget the kick for touch and a fresh set of six, just give the team infringed against more tackles – four, to be precise. For example, if the penalty occurs on the first tackle, then the attacking team gets 10 tackles. If the defending team again infringes on the first tackle, four more tackles are added. And so on. And they still have the option of taking the kick at goal.
Let’s be honest about this, a referee’s job is bloody hard. With the stripping rule, for instance, any lost ball with more than two people in a tackle is as likely as not to earn a penalty, and at times it’s just not possible to tell what happened.
Players are coached to wrap up the ball to stop the offload, so there’s almost always hands near the ball, making any judgement more difficult still. I’ve even suspected that some players have simply let go of the ball when there is hands around it, in order to earn a penalty.
Of course, players may not be going quite that far, but it would be an interesting experiment if a team were to try it. A few extra tackles, with no kick for touch, would place a greater emphasis on ball security, yet also make the penalty more commensurate with the supposed crime.
Another instance of penalties awarded in error is in the play the ball. How many times have we seen a player drop it stone cold and then throw his hands in the air, imploring the referee to award a penalty for hands in the ruck? It happens almost every time, and far too often it works.
Referees will always be human, at least in our lifetime, and mistakes will happen. But too many games nowadays are won on penalties awarded in error. Conversely, far too often games are lost because obvious and deliberate penalties, such as the professional foul, carry too little punishment.
I say that the system is definitely broke, so let’s fix it.
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