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Remember all the talk in the NRL about a captain’s challenge? It seems not long ago we were mere formalities away from implementing a review system similar to those used in cricket and tennis.
Those sports have embraced player reviews, even if their players haven’t proven to be very adept at using them.
Over the decade tennis has used a challenge system, the highest success rate (from a minimum of 100 challenges) was 44 per cent, by current world number nine David Goffin.
Cricketers are even worse. A 2017 study of over 2100 reviews showed that barely a quarter (26.2%) resulted in an umpire’s decision being overturned. A batsman’s success rate was one in three (34%) while the bowling team were right only once every five times (20%).
That’s hardly inspiring.
However, both review systems have undeniably overturned some howlers. And the NRL system was going to be better, with improved technology and processes.
Before trialling the captain’s challenge in the last round of season 2016, CEO Todd Greenberg said that the league had been considering a captain’s challenge system for several years but “did not previously have the technology to be confident the correct decision would be delivered”.
What’s happened since then to stop the project completely in its tracks? The available technology has got better. There’s no doubt it would be a useful thing for teams to have in their pocket.
As Friday night’s Broncos-Cowboys blockbuster reached its crescendo, North Queensland were made to hand the ball back after the tackle count expired. But had it?
After Tevita Pangai Junior (more on him later) lost the ball attempting to score in the 73rd minute, the Cowboys had seven tackles from the 20-metre line. But the handover was called after six tackles. It was apparent referees Gerard Sutton and Ben Cummins weren’t 100 per cent sure of the count, but we all got on with it.
Cowboys players knew the count was wrong – shouldn’t Johnathan Thurston or Matt Scott be able to step in and call for a review?
AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy
In the very next set, Brisbane’s last tackle was called on what was actually the fourth, forcing Anthony Milford to make a tough clearing kick he wasn’t expecting with a defender in his face. It gave possession to North Queensland at a critical moment. Could it have made a difference if Darius Boyd was able to get it checked?
In the nation’s capital, with his side leading 28-20, Canberra halfback Sam Williams had a 65th minute kick called out on the full when it was clear that he’d drilled the ball straight into the ground. Newcastle promptly took the ball 70 metres and scored on the way to a fantastic comeback win.
Rather than getting in the face of the referee with angst and anger, should Raiders captain Jarrod Croker have simply been able to avoid all that and ask for a second look at the kick?
Shouldn’t Croker be able to call a review when Ash Klein, Matt Noyen and Rickey MacFarlane all miss Tautau Moga blatantly interfering with a 40-20 restart (a sin bin offence) to buy time for his battling Knights defence?
The Roar’s Tim Gore and Steve Mascord have covered this issue before, so I don’t intend to go deep into the whys and wherefores of the challenge system. I’ll just ask this simple question… What happened?
The 2016 live trial was limited to scoring plays when St George Illawarra played Newcastle, but it was never used on the day. Greenberg’s enthusiasm for the idea promptly vanished and it was never heard of again. Why? The technology is there, why not give captains the chance to right a wrong?
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A lot happened in NRL Week 2. Let’s have a quick look at a sample…
You won’t see a better six minutes from a prop in 2018
Tevita Pangai Junior was immense on Friday night against the Cowboys. Without his work in the last six minutes, Brisbane lose that game.
After dropping what would have been the match-sealing try, Pangai Junior headed back to the defensive line with his team up 24-20 and being buffeted by wave after wave of attack from Thurston, Jake Granville, Coen Hess and Jason Taumalolo.
Pangai Junior got involved in nine tackles, including four on Taumalolo and one bell-ringer on fullback Ben Hampton, which shut down a promising kick return.
Sweeping behind the defensive line, Pangai Junior was involved in four tackles during the game’s decisive set, culminating with his shot on Scott Bolton which drove the big Cowboy into the post and sprung the ball loose into Pangai Junior’s grateful arms. With that last effort, Pangai Junior was gassed and spent the last 60 seconds on the bench, job done. It truly was match-winning stuff.
Lip service from Broncos sponsors
We saw more Matthew Lodge coverage this week, with shocking allegations from his former partner. More than enough writing has been done about this issue, but we should note the mealy mouthed, ‘corporate responsibility 101′ statements from Brisbane’s sponsors as this story unfolds.
So far the NRMA, University of Queensland, XXXX, National Storage and Ladbrokes are falling over themselves to say how “very concerned” they are with behaviour that’s “below the standards the community would expect” and that they find Lodge’s actions to be “completely unacceptable”.
In recent years, AFL teams Richmond, Collingwood and Geelong lost major sponsorship deals from the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) when players were caught speeding or drink driving. These are not small market, hideaway teams – they’re three of the biggest out there.
So will any of Brisbane’s backers take their business elsewhere? Not a chance. The Broncos are the only show in town with free-to-air TV exposure any company would die for. When it’s a decision between ‘company values’ and income, income will win every time and let’s face it – would you pull your company out of such a sweet deal?
Photo by Matt King/Getty Images
Why did Manly and Parramatta kick off in 40 degree heat?
At Brookvale on Sunday it was pushing 40 – yes, forty – degrees at the game’s 4pm start. That temperature was constant throughout the 80 minutes.
In Penrith the day before, the Panthers and the Rabbitohs kicked off in 35 degrees (sure, it’s not 40, but what’s five degrees when you’re going at full tilt?).
I had a look at the NRL’s heat guidelines – see them for yourself here – and my rudimentary assessment of Sunday afternoon came to a score of 70, the level where the NRL recommends you “cancel or reschedule your event, training or physical activity”. If that can’t happen, you’re supposed to allow for extra breaks, shade, etc.
Surely player welfare dictates the game should have been delayed or at the very least included drinks breaks. As it turned out, Manly’s attack and the Eels’ defence ensured regular stoppages, but that’s not the point. There were no drinks breaks and no extended halftime break.
Did the game go ahead because it was Channel Nine’s feature game? I can barely take my bins out in 40 degrees. Why do we expect players to put up with it?
I love the game as much as the next person, but I don’t want a team to be shot for weeks after being put at risk like that.