NRL's sudden sin bin change: Late, unexpected, good for one major team

Even when the NRL finally does the right thing they totally stuff up the implementation.

With just on a week to go until NRL season 2017 kicks off, referees boss Tony Archer has let the coaches know that his boys are going to finally crack down on sides defending their line by giving away penalties.

That’s right: the sin bin is coming back, baby!

You’d think I’d be happy about that seeing as I first railed against the practice back in 2013 and have been on about this issue again and again and again…

Eventually I just gave up and acknowledged that – for whatever reason – NRL HQ didn’t care about the practice and the only thing for teams to do was to get on board with these grubby, low rent, cynical tactics.

That Tony Archer is not only going to crack down on the practice but even acknowledged in the Fairfax Press that they should have done it earlier should make me ecstatic, right?

“In the past if we haven’t taken action we should have been stronger in those cases. I think it would be fair to say in 2014 and 2015 we didn’t sin bin enough for professional fouls and repeated infringements but I think in 2016 we certainly got to where we need to be for a professional foul, and we need to get to that position for repeated infringements,” Archer was reported as saying.

Of course I’d also add 2013, 2012 ,and 2011 to those years where the whistleblowers did not vaguely have the cajones to use the bin.

Have a look at these figures:

This chart shows us two very crucial things
1. That the successful teams were deliberately conceding penalties stands out likes dogs balls to anyone paying attention to how the game is running. Like NRL HQ is meant to be.
2. In the last three years there has been a marked explosion in penalties.

This then leads to two logical conclusions
1. NRL HQ knew teams were deliberately conceding penalties as a defensive strategy and didn’t care, and;
2. All the teams with even half a strategic brain realised that NRL HQ didn’t care and wouldn’t use the sin bin to counter the tactic.

When the Raiders beat the Storm in Round 23 last year, Cameron Smith complained bitterly after the match that the Raiders had used deliberate spoiling tactics.

When Steve Mascord put that accusation to Raiders coach Ricky Stuart, his response was blunt: “We learned that from Cam.”

The irony in Cam Smith whinging about opposition sides cheating was hilarious to most.

However, he had a point. The Raiders were the most ill-disciplined side in 2016 and finished third. They were the tenth worst transgressor in 2015 and finished tenth. Nice guys certainly don’t finish first.

The NRL had clearly allowed the tactic and if you wanted to win then you had to do it too. The NRL, through their total inaction in the face of blatant evidence, pretty much forced teams to use the tactic.

It should surprise no one that last year’s premiers featured three of the four worst transgressors in the NRL in Michael Ennis, James Maloney and Andrew Fifita. Their reward for this behaviour was not a single sin binning between them for their combined 76 penalties conceded, and – of course – matching premiership rings.

So now, a week out from the start of season 2017, referees boss Tony Archer has told all the coaches that there is going to be a crackdown on repeated infringements and the sin bin will be used.

Astonishing.

After years of steadfastly allowing the tactic to go on, Tony Archer all of a sudden decides that he’s going to tell the coaches – just before kick off – that many of the defensive plans they’ve been preparing since last November, based on what NRL HQ has been blatantly allowing for years, are probably now just steaming piles of waste.

I am fully in favour of stamping out these crappy negative tactics, but Tony, announce your intentions with enough time for the sides to adapt!

It is your mob who has been allowing the tactic for at least half a decade. If you are suddenly going to choose to enforce the rule book give a little more freaking warning.

If there was ever a better example that those at NRL HQ live in their own little bubble with little consideration to the impacts of their decisions on the clubs, I don’t know of it. Were they just waiting for Ennis to retire until they did it? Mick must be killing himself laughing.

This long overdue enforcement of the rules will have the same effect on the game as the institution of the ten metre rule back in 1990. There will be lots more attack and lots more scoring. That will be great for the game.

However, when Ken Arthurson and John Quayle brought the ten metre rule in they gave plenty of notice so sides could adapt.

Yes, this is a rule enforcement not a rule change but it is a big enough change that more notice was needed.

What are they going to do next? Enforce the player origin rules properly and make Greg Inglis represent his actual state and make James Tamou play for New Zealand?

Of course there are a few sides who will just be loving this sudden enforcement. Sides that have crap defence but good attack – the Wests Tigers and New Zealand Warriors spring to mind – have probably just become contenders. Their often superb attack now can’t be blunted by spoilers as easily and they’d both fancy themselves at outscoring other teams.

But happiest of all will be the side that has good defence but has never based their game around spoiling tactics. The Brisbane Broncos worst penalties conceded ranking in the last five years is 11th out of 16.

They’ve been ranked 15th and 16th in the last two seasons. Love them or hate them they’ve never gone with cynical spoiling tactics. Wayne Bennett would be loving Archer’s edict and hoping that his refs actually follow through.

It’s been over a decade since the Brisbane behemoth last won the Premiership and Archer’s crackdown may just bring an end to that drought.