No team is happy when they are beaten. Every coach has their complaints with the result, especially in finals footy.
Obviously, there were some controversial decisions made in each of the games, but at the end of the day, a good team should be able to overcome any bad decisions.
There is no need for coaches to come out and blame the officials for their loss. Trent Barrett and Shane Flanagan should be hanging their heads in shame. Both their sides were outclassed and chose to place blame for their defeats on the referees and their controversial decisions.
The problem is so bad that NRL CEO Todd Greenberg had to tell the coaches to stop their bloody whinging.
Trent Barrett should be proud of what his Sea Eagles have achieved in 2017. Most pundits had Manly finishing in the bottom four but they far exceeded expectations, finishing sixth.
Their season came to an end on Saturday night via a 22-10 loss to the Penrith Panthers in a game featuring some controversial decisions by the bunker.
The first of those decisions was the overturning of a try against Dylan Walker for offside, due to him failing to have both feet behind the kicker.
The bunker call has since been backed up by referees’ boss Tony Archer as well as Greenberg and I agree with them.
Following that was the overturning of a try against Akuila Uate due to a knock-on, a seemingly obvious decision that the bunker got correct.
The third and most contentious was the awarding of a try to Tyrone Peachey when the bunker had insufficient evidence to determine whether Peachey had touched the ball with his hand.
Upon further inspection from multiple camera angles, it does appear as though the ball did not touch Peachey’s hand, and perhaps the movement of his finger was just the angle his hand was at, from that camera angle.
Like the call against Walker, this was later confirmed by Archer and Greenberg. The evidence for all three calls prove that Trent Barrett had no reason to blame the officials for the loss.
To suggest “it’s cost us our year,” is pathetic. The players should hold themselves accountable for their season coming to an end and no one else.
All signs pointed to a Cronulla Sharks’ victory on Sunday afternoon against the Cowboys. The Cowboys had only won one of their last six matches (against 15th placed Wests Tigers) and travelled down to Sydney without several big-name stars, including both co-captains and arguably the best player in the game in Johnathan Thurston.
Not only that, but the Cowboys hadn’t won at Allianz Stadium since 2010, including five finals.
Like the previous game, there were some controversial calls, such as the knock-on against Andrew Fifita, but any mistakes the referees made seemed to balance out.
Two of the biggest calls that went against the Sharks were the James Maloney sin bin and the Paul Gallen knock on. Shane Flanagan made the outrageous claim that Maloney shouldn’t have been sin binned, in spite of the obvious fact that he prevented a player from getting to the ball in a try-scoring opportunity.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
If Flanagan doesn’t think that was a professional foul, he clearly hasn’t watched any games at all this year because that has been a sin bin offence all season.
As for Gallen’s knock-on in the closing stages, it was a loose carry and he had no control over it.
Flanagan blamed these, as well as approximately half a dozen other decisions as to why the Sharks were beaten. But a look at the stats shows that the Sharks had 43 per cent of possession, completed at 60 per cent (compared to the Cowboys 80 per cent), made 17 errors to 10, missed 34 tackles to 15 and conceded 11 penalties to five This is why the Sharks lost.
It wasn’t because of any decisions made by the referees. The fact they only got beaten by one point was amazing with those stats. There was no reason for Shane Flanagan to complain. Besides, his words in 2013 were “these things happen.”
Todd Greenburg did the sensible thing on Monday. He came out in a press conference, backed his referees and told the coaches to grow up and stop their bloody whinging (not in those exact words).
Hopefully, these coaches receive the full brunt of the fines that were promised a few years ago for complaining about the referees, because the referees didn’t cost any teams their seasons.
matth
Guest
I think he lost his piece of paper outlining their 12 coaching and playing mistakes on the way in and had to go with his back up ref paper instead.
Larry1950
Guest
What if the nrl suspends half of Flanagan's fine, makes him do a referee course & officiate at a junior level for all of 2018. That's the definition of irony. Bet he won't agree to that!
Rob
Guest
Blocking is legal. Defenders can position their bodies between the attacker and the ball whilst the ball is in flight as long as they are moving backwards with the flight of the ball. Defenders can shepherd a ball behind them over the side line or dead ball line in the same manner, by positioning themselves between the ball and an attacker. Defenders are also entitled to stand their ground when facing a player chasing a ball behind the defensive line. They don't have to get out of an attackers way. Blocking is illegal. Defenders can't grab, push or stick out their arms or legs to stop an attacking player getting to the ball.(Maloney). Defenders can't deliberately move across the path of an attacking player in a forward or sideways action to stop them getting to the ball. What Maloney did by hanging his arm out is a penalty everyday of the week. Was it deliberate? Yes. Was there a possibility of Lowe getting to the ball in a try scoring position? Yes. Sin bin offence? Yes.
Rob
Guest
It's infuriating watching players plant the ball before getting to their feet and then receiving a penalty for falling over or losing the ball.
realist
Guest
My apologies Matthew..............i misinterpreted your post. My mind was elsewhere at the time. My whole 'beef' against these articles is that 2 coaches have been singled out / hung out to dry as though they're the only ones that have come out after matches & ranted on about the referees & the bunker. As for the NRL administration, i hold them totally responsible for the farce that the NRL has become. They are not addressing the problem at hand, rather covering up their own inadequacies & using their power to punish those who, on most occasions, have reason to complain.
Roberto
Guest
The Leutele one is eerily similar to Slaters 2pnt penalty. Both raise from ball being planted, which is against the rules. Supposed to stand up first before planting the ball. Vunivalu gets a penalty every game for this, Smith/Bellamy surely have him practice this at training for their mandatory leg up penalty downfield.
Nico
Guest
Refs are already most scrutinised people in the game. You normalise ref bagging and you eventually normalise physical assaults as well (you might not see it at NRL level but it's there on parks and fields every weekend). Average referee income in NRL is approx. $100k with a professional pool of around 50, so when you combine limited opportunities/pay/verbal/physical abuse, any wonder why many of the best refs will pursue other careers as as a result
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Ask Flanagan about his sides 37 missed tackles. Ask Flanagan why Fifita ran to the sideline at the end instead if setting up for a field goal attempt. Of course he never mentioned these.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
On the Gallen knock on, I thought he was lucky not to be penalised.he did not get to his feet in trying to play the ball which is a penalty.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Well said, Rellum. There is a simple and old adage that goes something like this: It is not what you say. It is how you say it. And to have Gallen back up his coach in such a manner shows that he is still far short of where an ambassador for the game should be. The refs have a difficult job to do. If they continue to be a verbal punching bag for every fan, team official and player I find it very hard to believe it will be a career many will consider pursuing in future. By all means, Officials and players can voice their concerns. But they should be doing it with the respect and considered tone that is worthy of people in their professional position.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Every team has 79 minutes before the last minute of the game to determine the result.
The Barry
Roar Guru
What does 'less of the decisions' mean? Cronulla got two tries directly off the back of 50/50 calls. They finished well in front of the ledger. The Leutele decision was the worst one I saw all weekend. Of course referees are going to influence the end result. It's their job.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Yes, I remember as a kid seeing the old Lang Park ground close up and it absolutely surprised me with the different relative levels of the surface from centre field to the side line. It was massive. I haven't been up close an personal to a quality footy field for a while but if they still have the rake for run off, a super imposed line on the video simply would not work unless each field was plotted and mapped in both directions. From that plot of the individual field, a reference line could be created with the correct arc. This would need to be completed for every field and re-plotted anytime there was any significant change to the field profile.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
The coach along withe the team captain is the conduit to the press and the fans. The job of the coach within the football team (as posed to the club) is similar to that of a CEO in a company. Would you want the CEO of a company you are shares in speaking in the manner and tone that Barrett and Flanagan did? Barrett and Flanagan looked like petulant boys who didn't get their way. With the release of the overhead footage of the Peachey try now demonstrating quite conclusively that his hand was not touching the ball, will Barrett and Cherry Evans make a statement outlining their incorrect assumtpions on the matter? Without naming Peachey their comments alluded quite heavily that they thought Peachey was lying. I think Peachey and the refs deserve an apology in a similar situation to which they were accused.
Rellum
Roar Guru
No, whinging just makes you immature. Blaming the refs after a loss makes you immature. Even if those calls you have gone your way it is still immature to blame the ref and coaches especially should not do it. We want refs to be better, but analyzing their performances in a calm manor in a controlled environment is the answer. Subjecting the, to constant abuse and ridicule for every decision damages the game as a whole. The ref bashing has become a blight on the game that will do real damage in the long term to all levels. You can see it all ready.
Wild Eagle
Guest
Barry if the Sharks got less of the decisions go their way in a close game then it is likely to have influenced the end result. The NRL acknowledged that Luke Lewis was blocked 3 times and no penalty or sin bin and Maloney did something similar once and was penalised and binned. Forget about the issue of salty press confrences for a minute, I would be livid as a coach to see these rulings. I suggest if they treated Maloney here the same way as the others that we have a different result. I don't follow either team.
Wild Eagle
Guest
Whinging makes someone automatically wrong according to many. I suspect one of the next few games will be decided by the refs/bunker and a mature acknowledge of this would be the first step in helping to fix it. A blatant forward pass in the last minute of the game which the bunker can't rule on, clearly can wrongly decide a game. It can't be denied but it will be. ......Talk about growing up!
Wild Eagle
Guest
I don't know that case and I don't understand your question. I have just stated I think that anyone who thinks it is only players who can cost a team a win but not refs are crazy. Just have a look that is what they are saying and that is what they are doing. If Ben Smith has cost Parra a GF win with a mistake then of course a ref can do the same thing but why do so many deny it?
Patrick Logan
Roar Rookie
Is that why you don't understand it? You slam people for not caring about the NRL yet clearly try and find every problem that is in the NRL and generally make it look bad. Then you belittle every person who tries to take a positive out of our amazing game. Grow up
Patrick Logan
Roar Rookie
Your criticism is unwanted