“I’ll be waiting for Todd [Greenberg] to ring me and to tell me what an obstruction is.”
First question – will a ‘texer’ suffice?
That statement is from Ricky Stuart’s press conference on Saturday night after the Canberra Raiders lost to the New Zealand Warriors 20-19 to start their 2018 season 0-3.
Predictable is not a word I’ve used to describe the NRL season so far, but what is becoming increasingly so are these types of press conferences from Ricky Stuart where he makes a decision to move the focus from what his team has done on the field to the officials and the interpretation of the rules.
Stuart’s comments were in relation to Junior Paulo being denied a try because of an obstruction. Had it been awarded it would have taken Canberra’s lead to 25-6.
This decision came a week after a try was awarded to Tautau Moga in similar circumstances in the Knights’ 30-28 win over the Raiders. It also came the day after Moses Mbye was awarded a try in the Bulldogs game against the Panthers after the Bunker ruled that lead runner Will Hopoate had made minimal contact with James Maloney. This decision is still under review by the referees’ boss, Bernard Sutton.
Stuart may be right in that we need greater consistency in our game about the obstruction rule. The reality is though, referees will never get every decision correct.
Stuart needs to focus on his team and should be forced to answer some serious questions about a team that has blown three significant leads in as many weeks.
Here are some facts:
The Raiders scored zero points in the last 31 minutes of their game against the Warriors.
The Raiders put the Warriors in a position where they had the opportunity for three attacking plays in the last three minutes of the game.
The Warriors’ winning field goal was off an 80-metre return. Additionally, when Shaun Johnson took the field goal, he was under no pressure at all from the Raiders defence.
In the opening three weeks of the season, the Raiders have led games by 18, eight and 12 points. They lost all of them.
The Raiders still could not get the job done against the Warriors despite New Zealand losing Adam Blair to the sin-bin, the Raiders making more line breaks, missing fewer tackles and also making fewer errors than their opponents.
Some questions need to be asked.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
Like why are metres so easily being made by opposition teams running toward Blake Austin and Sam Williams? How has such an obvious target in defence been allowed to remain?
What is wrong with the Raiders defence and why do they lack such game awareness? Is it a fitness problem or is there something fundamentally wrong with the defensive structures they practice at training?
Why is Jack Wighton persisted with at fullback? His attack is no longer an appropriate excuse for his positional play, which at times leaves me completely bemused and his team exceptionally vulnerable.
Why does Stuart not want to play Siliva Havilli for more minutes? He has been one of the Raiders’ most impressive players so far this season. He is physical in defence, provides real spark out of dummy half and is an exciting player to watch in attack. He is the clear option going forward for that hooker position.
But most baffling of all: Why is Aiden Sezer not playing in the halves? I feel for this young player who came from the Titans to the Raiders and has not been set up to succeed. We have not seen the best of Sezer at the Raiders and part of that is because he is constantly shifting position. The experiment with him at hooker is not working. His service out of dummy half often halts the Raiders and he seems to struggle in making the correct decision on which way to send the ball.
I doubt he will be at the Raiders much longer.
(AAP Image/Lukas Coch)
A controversial refereeing decision may have been made in relation to that obstruction call, but one favourable call is not going to be enough to turn around the fortunes of the Raiders season.
Refereeing is something that has come under immense scrutiny in the opening weeks of the competition.
Some incorrect calls have been made. For example, Bernard Sutton has come out and said that the penalty awarded against the Tigers in double golden point extra time was wrong. Ashley Klein’s decision to penalise the marker defence has been called ‘an error in judgement’. This penalty saw the Tigers lose their first game of the season. I’m certain Ivan Cleary and his men were disappointed, but that they have also already shifted focus to next week against the Parramatta Eels.
Some games have been frustrating to watch because of constant penalties. My bias as a Parramatta supporter was clear to those around me at the game on Saturday night, when it took until very late in the second half for the Eels to be awarded a penalty.
But I am a firm believer in the idea that some refereeing decisions will be in your favour and others will not. This is part of sport.
In a difficult weekend for Aussies who love sport, the scandal which has engulfed Australian cricket has once again demonstrated to me that above winning there are some very fundamental principles which go towards how we think sport should be played – principles of honesty, integrity and at all times fairly and by the rules.
One principle that I would add to that is the importance of not only learning to win with grace, but losing with it too.
Stuart has every right to be frustrated and to wear his heart on his sleeve. He clearly feels for his players and that the effort they are putting in continues to go unrewarded.
But it’s time for Ricky to put his phone down hoping for Todd to call and instead get back to work to help his team be in a position to win their first game of the season.
Larry1950
Guest
Seriously, more than rugby union games which in general are decided by penalties for breaches of obscure rules that have no place in modern sport. If you want to build a winning union squad, just buy the World's best goal kicker & then add 14 hard workers who can learn the complicated rule book around him.
Larry1950
Guest
Ricky has blown up so often during his coaching career that most fans, his team's and the opposition's, just tune out. Personally, I reckon he's had a reasonable grievance about 25% of the time, the rest is just deflection. According to Ricky he's been robbed at every point from the Raiders to the Blues. I applaud the refs for sin binning Blair for the late shot in the back which is his stock in trade style of niggling defence, as a bronco supporter I used to cringe when he did that for my team. However, Ricky's team had the 10 minute extra man advantage that others haven't necessarily received because Blair has that high profile, so he can't bag refs too much. Have seen similar efforts to Blair's go unpunished this season, one by Jordan Su'a for my mob. Is this tack a result of Andrew Johns' concerted campaign against Blair last season? Well if so, at least he's done something positive for the game off the field.
steveng
Roar Rookie
Thanks Bunney, I love the modern game, the players are unbelievable athletes and they exhibit the pinnacle of what RL should be all about! I'm not and never ever been against progress and/or evolution but, I've always called a spade a spade and in todays game (as I see it) the refereeing and petty rule changes and the selective implementations of them, are the only problem(s) that I see with our wonderful game today. I love RL and have been a die hard since I've been a young boy, I've played RL for 20 years from the late 50's! The Bunnies are a different story, yes, they destroyed Manly last Saturday but, lets see how long that will last? lol hopefully they will continue in their path to get into the 8 this year? Go the Bunnies!
curaeus
Guest
Everyone gets bum decisions from time to time. Look at the Tigers last Friday night losing a game in golden point on the back of an obvious (and subsequently admitted) dumb decision of the 2 on field referees and consider Ivan Cleary's calm but clear response in the post game presser. No hissy fit but you knew exactly how he felt and why. Rick could learn a bit from Ivan.
The Barry
Roar Guru
The point MIGHT be valid, the approach is not...
Bunney
Roar Rookie
We'll have to agree to disagree then Steveng - I've watched some old footy and just like today, some matches are excellent while some are dogs to watch. It has been proven that humans tend to remember the past in a better light than it really was, e.g. nostalgia. I think this might explain at least something of your views, which seems to be that everything old was good and everything new is bad. Cheer up - the Bunnies destroyed Manly on Saturday!
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Steveng, Thanks for your reply - I appreciate your story / background. It honestly makes me listen a bit more to the other aspects of your post. But there are some bits that don't make sense to me sorry. You bemoan the high number of penalties and the ensuing stoppages, but then wonder why they don't use the bunker more...which would cause even more stoppages. I didn't play a lot (wasn't very good at the time!) - but when I did the ref and the touchies were God. They said you were offside, not square, whatever, you stayed out of the play or were penalised. And if they didn't follow through, us players would continue bending the rules. That's why I think the way I do about refs blowing penalties - they are only adjudicating on what the players do. Thus, I think the onus is squarely on the players. For certain, there are occasionally performances by individual refs that boggle the mind and are unacceptably poor. But generally, my biggest fault with refs is they don't blow the whistle enough. Playing the ball at 45 degrees, rolling the ball between the legs without ANY effort to actually play the ball (before this year), forward passes, re-doing a scrum 3 times because it wasn't done properly, and the third time they let it go despite it being exactly the same as the first two efforts. We used to see captains deliberately time waste when under pressure by strolling over to the ref for a chat - thankfully that's been reduced, but it really grates me when the ref stops play after a team deliberately concedes multiple penalties on the line to warn 'No more, or I'll send someone to the bin' when that's EXACTLY what the team giving away the penalties wants - a breather! I think the refs should be empowered to penalise as they see fit without fear. Unfortunately (IMO), commentators like Gus and Joey Johns blast the refs for blowing too many penalties - when they should be upping the players who are giving them away! A few years ago, a player would be penalised for not hearing a held call and playing on. The penalty was excessively harsh, and the refs were bagged when they did or didn't call it. So they altered the rule to allow the team to maintain possession and play the ball back where they should of. Their penalty is the very slow play the ball which allows the defensive line get set. Now, because the penalty is more commensurate with the crime, hardly anyone cares when it happens. If the penalties are too harsh, change the rules / outcome. That way the refs can just do their job, of keeping players in line.
Forty Twenty
Guest
50/50 calls are not hard to understand at all. Cleary thought the call was wrong and inconsistent , Sutton agreed and said it was wrong. If you declare that to be blatant whinging then we will have to agree to disagree. Open debate doesn't involve agreeing with every decision a ref makes because it confirms your status as a non whinger. Sutton has taken the right approach and that is the way to progress, well done to Sutton.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
What could you possibly be referring to there, I wonder... Again, if it wasn't standard practice to bend/break the rules, obviously "incorrect" calls would actually stand out more. Actually recognising that there's such a thing as 50/50 calls, and that they're indeed 50/50 in nature, not just "clearly" what you see them as, also helps. Besides, "does nothing wrong"? I thought the issue was supposed to be about consistency. Making it about "we wuz innocent" is just blatant whinging.
Forty Twenty
Guest
No you are wrong, when a player does nothing wrong and still gets penalised and his team loses the game then it is the referee who is responsible.
Matt P
Roar Rookie
Maybe if players weren't so eager to break the rules every second tackle, it'd be easier to differentiate. Players are still the ones accountable.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Thanks for your kind words, Ron! Keep the faith my friend.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Could not have put this better myself, Wayne.
Mary Konstantopoulos
Expert
Geo, I promise to leave your head right now. Thank you for helping me to write this article.
Forty Twenty
Guest
Except for the times when they don't break the rules and do get penalised, complicated. Bernie Sutton can fill you in on the details.
Kangajets
Guest
Rick Stuart has a valid point Referees decision and when and where they make them influence who wins games , more then any other sport . Inconsistent referees cost team wins constantly. The bunker and t v scrutiny just emphasises the mistakes . Saying all that , I don’t know the answer to fixing this either.
Mick b
Guest
Hopeless defense has been canberras problem for years. Croker is a turnstile. Williams is one too. Halivi cant get a real go. Bring back Tim Sheens.
bear54
Good call Ron. What we're missing is leadership. Tough leadership. In Canberra's great years we had Dean Lance and Mal Meninga leading from the front and not accepting any excuses from team mates not willing to give their all for the cause. Jarrod Croker may be a really nice guy but he does not appear to be an inspirational captain. We need someone the players can look to for answers on the field instead of gazing at the sideline hoping Ricky can tell them what to do.
steveng
Roar Rookie
You're just knocking two of the greats of our game with nonsense, Gould and John's know what they are talking about, the referees have no idea, I'm sure that most of them should have joined the highway patrol! Its a pity that many who knock Gould and John's and may of the old boys, don't know what this game was like and how it was refereed and played in the past and that is why this game is being ruined like it is and is becoming very frustrating to watch and probably the old 'Bex' should be reintroduced as a sedative! lol
Danny
Guest
I had this same convo with my old man on the weekend. It frustrates me no end, as a life long fan of rugby league I wish these guys could be a bit more positive about our game.