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It’s great that the sin bin is being more regularly used in season 2018, but in order for it to be used more frequently, it must be accompanied by send-offs.
It is simply not an acceptable situation for Jarrod Croker to have been sin-binned for ten minutes for a professional foul in a game where Sam Burgess remained on the field after hitting Aidan Sezer in the head with a swinging arm.
Before I go on, let me make a few things clear:
1. The Rabbitohs were deserving winners over the Raiders. While these incidents compounded the result, they most probably would not have changed it.
2. I welcome the increased use of the sin bin this year to deal with repeated infringements and I want it to continue.
3. While the Latrell Mitchell sin-binning was marginal and the Jarrod Croker sin-binning was unwarranted, we must suck such events up in the name of the greater good. More sin bins will make the game better and there will be far more correct calls than marginal or incorrect ones.
We need to support the authority of the referees to make such calls – to be in charge of the game. I encourage Gerard Sutton and Adam Gee – all officials for that matter – to continue using the bin where they see fit. I’ll suck up their errors.
What I don’t want to suck up is when Sam Burgess, a prior offender, is clearly shown in replays to have hit an opposition player in the head with a swinging arm, then only be put on report.
That is not acceptable in any way.
NRL HQ also doesn’t want to see these situations. They are smart enough to know that punishing professional foul while not punishing – during the game – the attack on the head of a player isn’t defensible. It should be noted that the NRL’s position is that the Burgess incident was not worthy of a send off.
The problem is that they had their warning about this situation – albeit in reverse – in the Sia Soliola high shot on Billy Slater incident, in 2017.
(AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
When Soliola smashed Slater in the 50th minute of the Round 20 clash, now referees boss Bernard Sutton was the video referee and elected not to send Soliola off. Tony Archer demoted him for the following week as a result, clearly apportioning blame.
By not sending Soliola off, it meant that the referees lost control of the game. The Storm players knew full well that if Soliola didn’t get marched, then there was little to no chance of anyone being binned or sent off – regardless of their crime.
I watched on as Felise Kaufusi, Dale Finucane and Jesse Bromwich (in particular) turned the tackle and play the ball into something far more suited to the octagon.
Their logic was solid: how could a ref possibly sin bin a player for a professional foul when you haven’t sent a player off for a late, swinging arm to the head?
Finally, after the game was clearly in the Melbourne’s keeping, Cam Munster was sin-binned by Matt Cecchin for a professional foul.
This was a crystal clear example of why send-offs – when warranted – have to happen. The referees must have undisputed authority to run the game and not sending off a player where there is clear evidence to support it drastically erodes said authority.
Adam Gee had the confidence to assert his authority when he sin-binned Croker. However, he – and Steve Chiddy, the video ref – didn’t have the same confidence to send off Burgess in the 59th minute of Saturday’s match, in spite of damning video replays.
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This is an endemic problem. Since the report system came in during the mid-to-late noughties, the referees have virtually ceased sending players off.
They are clearly too scared to do it for fear of incurring the wrath of public opinion and duly getting dropped or demoted by their blame-apportioning superiors.
That’s despite offences like James Graham biting Billy Slater’s ear right in front of the touch judge,, Greg Inglis’ shoulder charge to Dean Young’s face, and, of course, Soliola’s hit on Slater.
The last send-off was David Shillington by Jared Maxwell – with video referee assistance – for headbutting Aaron Woods in August 2015. Who can remember the one previous to that? Was it Kade Snowden at the Knights?
There have been 501 NRL games played since Shillington butted Woods, without one send off, yet a number of offences that have merited multiple-week suspensions.
Clearly, a number of those big suspensions deserved in-match action. The suspended player’s team never has to play with 12 and the suspensions don’t help the team that is hurt by the foul play.
If you are the team hurt by that foul play and you’ve had to suffer a player in the same match being sin-binned for a far lesser offence, you have every right to be livid.
Perhaps the situation could be treated by encouraging referees to sin bin players as well when putting them on report.
I put this idea to the NRL who provided the following response:
“Referees will always have the option of sending a player off for serious misconduct. Referees also have the option of using the sin bin for foul play if the incident is not worthy of a send off, but is reportable and the player injured from the foul play is unlikely to take any further part in the game.
“Any trends which develop can always be assessed by the Competition Committee.”
So it seems the refs can sin bin players they are putting on report. Let’s hope it starts happening. However, the real threat of send-off needs to reappear as well.
I’m fully behind Todd Greenberg’s push to #NRLTalkTheGameUp. I’m fully behind the penalty crack down too, as it will deliver a more open and entertaining game. I’ve been calling for more sin binnings for professional fouls for years and I’m happy it is finally happening.
However, the issues exposed by the officiating of the Rabbitohs-Raiders game clearly show that the send-off must also return to the game or this will surely only be one of many incidents when a professional foul gets far harsher treatment than a reckless or careless attack on a player’s head.