Twelve talking points from NRL Round 14

On the professor's second year syndrome they had Andrew Fifita playing the price is right. The correct answer to a $6M figure was "How much the Dragons are paying for the Ipswich Jets halfback".

Yes, wouldn't put it past Flanagan. He's a pretty shrewd operator, I remember a couple of games back where he told his forwards that the opposing pack called them weak...Gallen brought it up in the presser and Flanagan told him he made it up.

You nailed it Gary-Hand. Gallen's favourite quote "they had the last 2 penalties. when do we get one". He's a dumb Captain.

Smith is an absolute master of rugby league. A lot of it comes from experience and raw talent but it also comes from his incredible understanding of the game. Listen to when he chats to the referee, he talks at their level, discussing rules and never pushing them too far. see origin 3 in 2013? When the streaker runs on and he quotes the rule that entitles his team to possession, amazing stuff. Someone like Gallen on the other hand has a very poor understanding and so he yells and gets emotional with the refs which either turns them off or makes them more inclined to ignore him. Remember, it's not Smith's goal to overturn a ruling, it's to present reasonable sounding points to sway the officiating. If the storm are being penalised he'll be polite and highlight times when the opposition did it without being punished. Gallen will however complain about the penalty then, and this is so important; he'll criticise the referee directly. To put it succintly, if they were lawyers, Smith is a veteran QC who is reguarly consulted by the attorney general for his insight into the field. Most other captains are Ron, the guy with his degree from a thai university and his legal notes are written on a napkin. Frequently arrested for public misdemeanour.

Smith is intelligent. Gallen is dumb. Smith only approaches the referee when he knows that the situation is a grey area and that there is room for the referee to be influenced one way or another because the referee is not completely certain about which way to go on an issue. He picks his battles and only pushes his argument as far as it can reasonably go. As a result, he always seems reasonable and gets a lot of good outcomes. Gallen barks, and whines and carries on like a petulant child about decisions that are clear cut. He tries to argue against rulings that have already been made and that will never be overturned. He looks stupid and has lost all credibility as a result. It is impossible to take what he says seriously because he talks so much nonsense. Any coach with any sense would appoint a cocaptain who isn't a known time waster purely to deal with the referee.

I don't think Friday was always a great game from a purists point of view but there was definitely plenty of feeling throughout. Definitely a really good rivalry brewing. Maybe Flanagan was sowing the seeds for later in the season...?

Yes but a referee is the neutral party here and shouldn't be biased even to a specific person or character. In all sports the reason a captain is picked is to be the medium between his team and the referee on-field. However, with Smith he is allowed to argue and that is not fair when another captain is waved away. We all know by now that a captains argument hardly over turns a penalty but Smith is given the opportunity to argue his point for what? This opportunity can directly sway the referee's decision of a similar infringement in the later part of the game. In a previous test match when Adrian Lam was the coach for PNG Kumuls, he used this same tactic. Sent one of his players and told the ref to the tune of 'you've blown the whistle against PNG for the same infringement more than 3 times already'. The following set ensues and a similar incident occurs to which the whistle is blown, now, in favour of PNG and the commentators are joking about it in the commentary. If the referee didn't allow that little conversation during that time, the decision would have been different and that's my point here. A captain like Gallen probably has the same argument but the refs wave them away while Smith is allowed to argue. The skipper has the right to argue but one isn't treated fairly because they don't prefer their attitude? That is stupid, they are the neutral entity of the game, what characters or personalities they have shouldn't be judged by them. If the rules state the captain is allowed this and that, than it should be applied despite your preferences otherwise you are not doing your job right.

Flanagan has actually apologised for the 'referee Smith' comments, according to the papers.

A referee, just like any human being is more likely to understand and agree with a well reasoned and well articulated argument. Smith is both intelligent and articulate and is able to formulate and present a case that is capable of persuading a referee. Graham and Gallen are both dumb and obnoxious. They aren't smart enough to formulate a well reasoned argument and anything they do manage to come up with is given less weight by anyone unfortunate enough to have to try to listen to it because it is articulated so poorly. Communicating with referees is a basic skill of any NRL captain. All the clubs and all the coaches know this. If they keep picking a captain that can't do it, then it's on them.

"NRL Captains don't behave themselves like Smith"? So everyone must try to be like Smith and that guarantees all referees to listen to you??? Referees should tolerate any type of player with a "C" next to their names the same way all the time. Saying "you are wrong" in a calm tone (Smith's version) to the same sentence in a harsh tone (Graham's version) should be dealt with the same way as the message is the same. They shouldn't treat one better than the other. Referee shouldn't have favorites or preferred behavior for them to tolerate the captains. If that's the case then NRL should let the referees choose the captains of each team rather than the coaches. Maybe then, all referees will tolerate each captain equally because they are the ones that suit their tolerance specifications.

Yep, agree with that. Smiths influence was in that first 10 mins which had the Storm up 12-0 and then his short kickoff at the end to get the ball back for the game winning set. I think though Flanagan was just being flippant and he did say after that he wished he had Smith in his team. It seems he's apologised about the whole thing on 360 as well so I think its been blown out of proportion. I still think the Sharks v Storm rivalry is very real though...the players just seem to relish the challenge and there's a fair amount of niggle going on during the game.

I'm surprised Flanagan 'went there' about Smith. Smith didn't do anything out of the ordinary and I don't think had an undue influence over the refs in that game. His big influence in the game was the early 40/20 and the two times he isolated Brailey on the line. Smith had a couple of blatant flops that he got away with in the second half but that's got nothing to do with Smith refereeing the game. The Sharks started poorly (not for the first time) and really had a lot of opportunities to put the Storm away when they were pretty dominant from about minute 20 to minute 70ish.

Moylan certainly has been impressive. Yet I have been even more impressed by Dylan Edwards. Brings another dimension to Penrith’s attack. Is like Josh Mansour in regards to his tackle-busting abilities, really gives Penrith a good base to start their sets off. And he is also faster. To think he could have looked elsewhere if not given the opportunity to start in first grade

Tony Archer showed his true colours in the first twenty minutes of the 2012 grand final. The code is cursed with his style continuing. Stand over authority early in the game to the detriment of one team and unfair advantage given to the other. Amen.

That is absolutely the biggest issue from the weekends games. Unbelievable . This is incompetence run riot. How often have they intervened in the past. Just one guy or many. The NRL integrity unit needs to look closely at this urgently

That's my point..... the Broncos are undefeated when Kodi and Milford have been the halves.... why change? Should've made Hunt return to QLD cup first

An important period coming up Alex that's for sure mate.

Smith is articulate, intelligent and a gentleman. Accordingly, referees often find him pleasant to deal with and his views enlightening. Contrast with Gallen who is, was and always will be a dirty grub both in his style of play and his personal conduct on and off the field. It is no wonder that a referee would seek to minimise their contact with him. It is the job of a captain to deal with the referee and the duty of a referee to deal with a captain. It is part of the game, like kicking, passing or tackling. Some captains like Smith get better results, and good for them, after all, they do it by being polite and intelligent. It is a pity that more NRL captains don't behave conduct themselves like Smith.

Agree with everything except this: "Instead of Flanagan talking about Smith in the press conference, maybe he should be more concerned with the way his side starts games." When is he supposed to address the issue? At Sharks training on Monday morning? Flanagan has all week to work on his sides starts to games and 10 minutes to address a factor that every team that plays the storm has to deal with. Cameron Smith intimidates referee's and gets favourable treatment for his side that no other captain enjoys. Go back a couple of years when referee's were shamefully sending captains away and refusing to speak to them. Except for one of course. Smith could get a full minute of his team mates sucking in the big ones on their own try line having a good old chat to the ref while opposition teams wait for play to be called on. 2 minutes later down the other end and the opposing captain is sent away with disdain. That is just one minor example. He gets more seconds lying on players, lifting tackled players legs and is better than a 50/50 chance of a 3 on 1 strip being called a loose carry. It's been an absolute disgrace over the years and if it was anyone but the mighty QLD and Australian captain they'd be penalised out of games or labeled a grub.

lol.