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Five rounds into the NRL and a total of four players have been sent to the sin bin. That’s less than an average of one per round and yet never before has blatant professional fouling been so rampant in the NRL.
With teams willingly conceding penalties knowing the worst that will happen is a penalty attempt and a chance to have a rest, unsurprisingly the number of penalty goals attempted has soared this season.
But why have the refs gone so shy in handing out ten minutes in the bin? A statement from head of referees Tony Archer earlier in the week said that they felt ten minutes was too harsh for most of the infringements, but what message does that send?
It says if you’re in trouble just lie all over top of the attacking player and the worst you’ll do is concede two points.
If I want to watch teams trade penalty goals there’s another code I can tune in to.
I was surprised that the NRL unequivocally ruled out a return of the five-minute sin bin this week. It would seem that it would be the perfect way to meet halfway between not over penalising a team but also discouraging negative tactics and professional fouls.
Even Benji Marshall’s idea of the infringing player missing the next set of six had merit.
As we all know, rugby league coaches are quick to exploit any advantage and currently the referees being so reluctant to send players to the bin is having a negative impact on the game.
A few players sent to bin the bin would do wonders for the game as whole.
It would also hopefully put an end to the goal kicking competition.
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