Eleven talking points from NRL Round 11

Talk about controversy! What a weekend. You know why you’re here, so let’s just get straight into my NRL talking points from Round 11.

The sin bin stuff up is a major concern
How. The. Hell. Did. That. Happen?

Look, truth be told, it’s kind of a mountain out of a molehill type issue. It didn’t affect the result and at the end of the day, the world is going to go on.

But wow, it’s a god awful look for the NRL, who already have plenty of issues to sort out this season both on and off the field.

How can something be so drastically wrong which seems to easy to do. Count to ten minutes. It’s not a difficult situation, but it’s one which was butchered on Saturday as two Manly Sea Eagles players were let back onto the field one minute and 41 seconds early.

What’s worse is that no one seems to know the rule. Following the contest, the rulebook seems to state the visiting side are supposed to provide a timekeeper for situations like this, but then, if they don’t, they should let people know and from then on they are in charge.

Thankfully, Melbourne football manager Frank Ponissi has said they won’t protest, but it’s a massive blight on the game no matter which way you spin it.

“It was obviously an error and he made a mistake but I personally don’t want to dwell on it,” Ponissi said.

“He made a mistake and, hopefully, it doesn’t happen again.”

It’s becoming frustrating that, week after week, we are forced to talk about refereeing and administrative stuff-ups, but this one simply had no choice but to find it way to the top of the article.

This is an avoidable problem – one which should be rectified easily, but the NRL need to put in safeguarding measures so there is zero chance of it happening again.

The fact no one even seems to know who was in charge of the sin bin is a major concern. One minute it’s the clubs, the next it’s the NRL. How hard can it be?

(Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Dylan Napa’s sin bin technically correct, but since when is that the way to go?
While we are talking about the referees, why not discuss Dylan Napa’s head-first tackle which landed him in hot water on Friday evening against the Broncos at Suncorp.

The vision is pretty damning against Napa, but in truth, there is an argument to be made saying a step from Korbin Sims in the lead up to the ‘tackle’ actually caused the issue and without the step, Napa could well have had a head or neck injury out of it.

Put simply, the Roosters forward was out of control heading into the tackle, indicated by the way his arms ended up everywhere but on Sims when the hit was eventually made. The head making contact first was a major problem though and the referees decided to place him in the sin bin for the remaining minutes of the game.

While the NRL rules state the referees can basically do what they like when a player has breached the rules with relation to the head and neck, it seemed to be very heavy-handed to put him in the sin bin.

Under the player misconduct rule, section two states:

“A player is guilty of misconduct if he, when affecting or attempting to affect a tackle makes contact with the head or neck of an opponent intentionally, recklessly or carelessly.”

It goes onto state.

“In these circumstances:

“A penalty kick shall be awarded against any player who is guilty of misconduct provided that this is not to the disadvantage of the non-offending team.

“Additionally, a referee or review official may:

“In the event of misconduct by a player at his discretion, caution, temportarily suspend for ten minutes (sin bin) or dismiss the player.

“If an incident is significant enough, a referee will also place the player on report.”

Under that rule, it’s reasonably easy to see which way the referees have gone, and at high pace, it might have been hard to deem the contact from Napa not intentional. So while technically, it might have been correct, just like the Billy Slater drop kick try against Brisbane a month ago, it’s the wrong decision consistency-wise to put Napa in the sin bin.

Penalty? definitely. Report, probably, because what doesn’t get put on report, but sin bin? When was the last time you saw a high tackle placed in the sin bin? I don’t remember one. It’s reserved for professional fouls and obviously, bigger misconduct than a tackle which was hard to call intentional in slow motion.

Napa never intended to go in softly, but then, no NRL player ever does. He was aiming to hit Sims, got it wrong and paid the price, his team going onto lose a crucial fixture.

It just sets a precedent now where big hits contacting the head of an opposition player will need to spend ten minutes on the sideline, and the chance of that becoming the norm seems slim.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Surely that’s it for Parramatta and North Queensland
Another week, another loss for both the Eels and Cowboys, with the two teams glued to the bottom of the NRL ladder as the midway point of the season approaches.

Parramatta, after their loss to the Warriors, slump to a record of just two wins from eleven games. Their form has been horrendous, and while there were a pair of wins just a couple of weeks ago, the chance of turning around for a longer period of time is looking slimmer by the week.

Their attack was an absolute shambles against the Warriors. They couldn’t put a series of plays together in an attempt to control the game to save their life.

The blue and gold defence wasn’t much better at times and it’s no surprise they ended up getting shelled by the Warriors, who have been strong.

North Queensland actually put in an improved effort as they returned home against South Sydney, but it still amounted to roughly nothing as they collapsed in a heap.

They should have won the game in reality, or at the very least got it to golden point, but that didn’t happen with some sloppy work in the last 90 seconds before Jake Granville gave away a penalty as Adam Reynolds tried to tie the game up with a field goal.

For the Cowboys to make the top eight, they need to be winning games at home, and sitting with a record of three and eight before the State of Origin window is a disaster. Throw Matt Scott’s injury on top of all their current problems and they are in all sorts.

It’s going to take a minor miracle for either of these sides to play finals footy from here, with at least nine and ten wins required from their last 13 games respectively.

(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

The Dragons still haven’t played that well
If there’s one thing following the ladder-leading Dragons around this year, it’s their ability to win when they aren’t playing all that well.

It was evident again on Sunday as they beat the Raiders in Mudgee, and while they weren’t at their worst, they have won nine games this season without looking anywhere near what the team should be capable of producing.

It’s a case of teams showing up and playing worse than they are, but then, the Dragons level of intent is causing it. They run hard in the forwards – hence half the pack likely to be selected for New South Wales when State of Origin comes knocking – and control games nicely through their halves.

Arguably, they were pretty good against the Roosters on Anzac Day and have been a few other times, but consistency from week to week is way off for the Red V, who have a record of nine and two and a heap of improvement still left in them.

Ben Hunt was well below his best, staying very quiet against Canberra, while they made a lot of silly little errors and had to defend their line plenty during the game.

This Dragons team have plenty of talent, but their ability to fight, scrap and defend their errors may be where it’s at moving forward in terms of setting the bar for the rest of the competition.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Does Round 11 change the Origin picture?
There were some big Origin battles during Round 11 positional-wise and it could well have changed some of the Origin selections ahead of Game 1 on June 6.

The battles worth talking about took place at Suncorp Stadium on Friday, with Andrew McCullough going up against Jake Friend in an apparent audition for Cameron Smith’s now-vacant spot, while Latrell Mitchell and James Roberts went head-to-head for a possible spot in the Blues centre.

Let’s deal with the Queensland one first. McCullough is the clear favourite, and was before the game. With Friend struggling to a sternum injury, he needed to produce something special to be considered for Origin, but wasn’t fantastic, and with McCullough’s kicking game and control of the contest, the Queensland selectors would be crazy not to include him.

In the New South Wales camp, it’s hard to say who got the better of the game, or whether there is a spot. Josh Dugan made his return for the Sharks on Sunday afternoon and is likely to take one of the centre spots being an incumbent with plenty of experience, while Euan Aitken seems to be the front-runner for the other spot.

Yet, many want to see genuine pace on the edge, and that is what both Mitchell and Roberts would bring. While both have issues in their game which would likely be exposed at Origin level, Roberts’ pace was evident in his blistering try late in the game. Unfortunately, that sort of space is rare in Origin.

Mitchell might be the favourite out of the pair, showing some good form this year, but with Aitken putting in another good performance on Sunday, it’s hard to see either getting a spot.

The other one was Luke Brooks and James Maloney on Thursday at the foot of the mountains. Maloney, guiding a still undermanned Penrith to victory all but confirmed his spot after some conjecture over the last few weeks, while Brooks, guiding the Tigers to a score of two, seems to have moved himself further away from a sky blue jumper.

(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Three weeks for Curtis Scott doesn’t even go close to cutting it
Dylan Walker is looking at six weeks on the sidelines with a fractured eye socket. The man who caused it, Curtis Scott, can get out of it with three weeks if he takes the early guilty plea at the judiciary.

That’s quite unbelievable.

While Grade 3 is a high charge on the Melbourne centre, the fact he can be back on the field in potentially half the time of that Walker will spend out is absolutely incredible.

The NRL needed to stamp down hard on Scott for his punching tirade on Walker. They have outlawed punching on the field to improve the image of the game, which is all fair enough, but what sort of deterent is three weeks?

What does that tell the community? That a guy who punched someone can be back quicker than the guy he injured.

It’s just not on, and while people will point to previous punching offences and say they didn’t cop nearly as long, Scott should have found himself on the sidelines for a lot longer after the display. What made it worse was he seemed to spark from a verbal stoush, rather than any physical contact between the pair.

I get it, Dylan Walker has way of getting under his opponents skin, but that is no excuse for Scott to go to town like he did.

For what it’s worth, Apisai Koroisau gave as good as he got and should probably be looking at more than a week on the sidelines as well.

(Photo by Robert Prezioso/Getty Images)

Matt Moylan is key for Cronulla
It’s no small surprise the Sharks five-match winning streak has coincided with Matt Moylan finding some continuity in the halves.

He has been there consistently for a few weeks now and with the utility starting to grow into his role, the Sharks looke a much more efficient team in attack. His combination with Chad Townsend is working well, with the latter able to play the organiser role, allowing Moylan to play whatever he sees in front of him.

Continue that, and the Sharks can keep building over the next few weeks.

They are far from perfect, let’s not get that twisted. There is still a lot to work on and their level of errors and discipline will still cause headaches for coach Shane Flanagan, but they are on the right path nonetheless with Moylan actually playing the role he was brought to the club for.

(AAP Image/Daniel Munoz)

Cameron Smith being out wasn’t an excuse for whatever that was
That was the worst performance I have seen from a Melbourne Storm team. Ever.

They were abysmal from start to finish, making a stack of errors, not dominating the ruck and being outclassed completely by the Manly Sea Eagles, who are on a roll having picked up victories over the Brisbane Broncos in Brisbane and now the Storm in Melbourne.

Their form has been excellent really, but the Storm have serious questions to be asked. Scoring just two penalty goals throughout the course of the contest, the pressure is on for Craig Bellamy’s side, who looked anything but a team coached by Bellamy on Saturday.

While the other issues have dominated the talk from the game, it’s not hard to see why Billy Slater and his coach were scathing of the team in the post-match press conference.

Sure, Cameron Smith was out, but that’s absolutely no excuse. They were much better than that during the Origin window last year and at the end of the day, they still trotted out 17 professional rugby league players, who didn’t look anything like it.

There is plenty to work on for the men in purple.

Penrith appear to be a very good footy side
The Panthers are playing damn good footy this year. While it’s not the most appealing to watch at different times, they are playing their situation perfectly.

With so many players out during the year, James Maloney and the remaining forwards have led the way for the Panthers and they haven’t looked back.

Sitting in second spot on the ladder after 11 rounds of action wasn’t where many expected them to be this season, but if you had of said they would be sitting there with an injury crisis dominating the talk of their first two months, you would have been laughed out of the building.

Penrith, right through the last few years, have always had a heap of talent. They have been a side predicted for big things and with the likes of Nathan Cleary, Tyrone Peachey, Isaah Yeo, Reagan Campbell-Gillard and co running around, it’s not hard to see why they have disappointed expectations at times in the last few years.

This year, with a steady hand in Maloney to guide the ship, they are finally living up to the weight of expectation placed on them.

The right balance of attack and conservative footy has been established for the Anthony Griffen-coached side, and they are proving very hard to beat.

Whichevery way you look at it, there top-of-the-table match with the Dragons next week is shaping as a cracker.

It might be time to move on from Jason Nightingale
It’s tough to say as a Dragons fan, because Nighty is just about a club legend. He has been there since the glory days, been with it through the hard times and nothing ever changed. You always knew was you were going to get on the wing from Nightingale in the Red V.

It’s just not happening in 2018 though. Nightingale seems to be lacking a little bit of pace and it’s affecting both his attack and defensive decision making. Josh Addo-Carr made a mess of him a few weeks ago, but the trend is a worrying one, with Nightingale seemingly unable to stop anyone.

The Raiders first try on Sunday afternoon saw Nick Cotric go over through Nightingale after he once again found himself out of position.

Whether or not Nightingale trusts his inside men is another question altogether, but it’s not an excuse for the rabble that has been the Dragons edge defence in the last couple of weeks.

Zac Lomax is sitting in reserve grade, playing good footy and just waiting for a chance to excel in first grade, and just maybe, it’s not that far away.

(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

The wheels have well and truly fallen off for the Knights
The Knights loss to the Titans on the weekend came as something of a surprise. Even given they had lost two matches in a row coming into it, the Titans were expected to be an easier battle for Newcastle, even having to travel away from home.

Newcastle have struggled ever since Mitchell Pearce was injured, but they can’t blame him on their defensive issues against the Titans.

It was somewhat embarrassing for the club to let in 33 points against a team who are somewhat in turmoil. Their halves are all over the place, injuries are present and the forwards have been dominated all season.

With the Knights pack still playing well enough over the last two weeks, they should have been able to build a platform which allowed Connor Watson, Brock Lamb and particularly Kalyn Ponga to dominate the game.

It was anything but though and their lack of experience got them at the end with the Titans taking a victory which keeps them within striking distance of the top eight.

Given Pearce is still a number of weeks from returning, there are serious concerns about the Knights ability to stay competitive during that period.

Roarers, what did you make of Round 11? Drop a comment and let us know down below.