I was born in the family home at Balmain, a stone’s throw away from Birchgrove Oval, the birthplace of rugby league in this country.
As was the way in those days, I was naturally a Balmain boy through and through, and like the rest of my family and those who lived in the area, loved the Tigers with a passion.
At the ripe old age of ten, I was gutted when I found out that Arthur “Big Artie” Beetson had to miss the Grand Final through suspension. Surely it was not fair to rub a bloke out of the ‘big dance’ for something he did in an earlier game but, as my very wise father explained it to me at the time, “No-one’s bigger than the game son”.
19 years on and another big fellow and also a Balmain legend, Steve “Blocker” Roach copped the same fate and, although my dear old Dad was no longer around to say it, his words echoed in my ears, “No-one’s bigger than the game son”.
Ah yes, Dad was always the voice of reason in our family and I’ve never forgotten this idiom, and how true it is because others have also been forced to miss the grand final due to indiscretions committed in earlier games.
For goodness sakes, even the “referee whisperer” Cameron Smith himself was ruled out in 2008 due to his penchant for trying to remove a blokes arm from its socket.
Billy Slater fans will argue that his shoulder charge on Sosaia Feki is nowhere near as dangerous as a chicken wing, however, there is something that needs to be considered here when the panel meets tonight to discuss his fate.
Should Slater be free to play? (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
The NRL brought in this rule because it deemed that this style of tackling was very dangerous. So dangerous in fact, that it cost one young man in Queensland his life, and this is why it comes with the minimum of 200 points, or if you like, an automatic one-game suspension.
I wonder if there would even be any debate at all if Slater’s shoulder charge had been a little ill-directed and Sosaia Feki ended up with a broken jaw? Most likely not.
Look, I have no truck with Billy Slater, I’ve never met him.
He seems a nice enough kid to me and is one heck of a good footballer but one thing I do know for sure is, that just like his captain, and Blocker and Big Artie before him, he’s not “bigger than the game” and if he’s exonerated tonight and free to play Sunday, I won’t be tuning in.
I know this won’t bother the NRL one little iota but it should, because in a season where fans have been turning of in the tens of thousands due to inept refereeing, stupid rule changes and enforcements, as well as rubbish administrative decisions, this is their last chance this year to show that they are at least, a little bit fair dinkum.
Aaron
Guest
If my ear touches his face first before my shoulder does that make it a headclash? Everyone is disregarding the action in general just because of a hand. Lord what a rubbish argument
Steve Franklin
Roar Rookie
We all knew he would get off cause he is Billy Slater and it's his last game of football. But let's look at the facts it was a shoulder charge and a grade 1, he could have gone into the tackle and pushed him out with his hands or even have tackled him around his waist and took him out but he had all the intent in the world of using his shoulder. He started getting his shoulder down from 10 metres out from his opponent that's why he was penalised by the referee. So if you all think it wasn't a shoulder charge you all need to make appointments at OPSM. Now let's go the judicary panel Sean Garlick makes pies for a living,Bob Lindner is a Queenslander (so is Slater) Mal Cochrane can't put 2 words together in a sentence so now you know why he got off it's a total circus and a big laugh.Might as well throw the rules out the door i bet if it had been Tedesco or any other fullback in the competition they would have got at least 1 week which isn't enough anyway. What about the poor guy who was killed by a shoulder charge in 2015 if Slater had done it to him would he have been suspended or got off scott free again. I live in Melbourne and i hope they lose the game anyway GO ROOSTERS and i can't stand them either but i will be in their corner on the weekend.
JohnB
Roar Rookie
His right hand may have brushed the other player (I only saw a front on shots as evidence that the touch happened, and it wasn't clear it in fact did touch. Looked more like it was foreshortened by the camera. Even if it did touch, it was purely incidental as the arm swung through as he was running), but did he use it "to tackle or otherwise take hold of the opposing player"? No, because he'd lined him up to hit him with his other shoulder. If you're going to try to be legalistic, you can't just cut out the words that don't suit and keep the ones that do. I don't disagree with your comments on other threads or in pieces you've written to the effect that this is a problem the NRL have got themselves into by not thinking properly about the grades of shoulder charge there might be and the appropriate levels of punishment to apply (to maintain relativity with other offences). That's a product of changing rules on the fly without enough thought and without having to get review and buy-in from other organisations. Having to accept nonsense defences to overcome the initial problem flows from there.
Alex
Guest
Billy Slater was found NOT guilty by the Judiciary - people need to accept this and move on. But everyone in NSW is crying like the sky has fallen over. The simple reason for this is cause these gooses thought without Slater, Roosters had a 'chance' to beat Melbourne. Now they know that they have to work very, very hard to have some chance of winning this Championship. And it is this 'hard work' which they don't want to do, and were looking for a short cut. To bad.
Biteme
Guest
You're quoting assumptions, thats sweet. Crowds were only up because Worksafe said they needed more cleaners to be present during game time hence the 0,2% increase. As for TV numbers, do you really believe in that, Im guessing Santa and the Easter Bunny are rife in your house too.
BiteMe
Guest
That's cute you quote fewer estimates, I wouldn't give them a second glance. The only way to truly note how something is travelling is with real numbers that cannot be fudged. e.g. numbers though the turnstile and actual human beings at the ground. Not some bot waving a magic wand to the highest bidder.
Biteme
Guest
You can count people walking through a gate ( you don't have to take your socks off for NRL though ), but you can't accurately count how many people actively watch a tv show, this is all based on assumptions. And as we all know, they just make an Ass out of U and Me !!
Cunning Linguist
Guest
Game of the year!!?? I think not. Rule Cheats v. Cap Cheats. Nobody gives a toss. You could still buy a ticket easily. If it wasn't for corporate it would be half empty. I won't be watching either.
pyeman
Guest
Good point bro. But that's the rules of their tournament. In the NRL there is no such rule allowing players to escape suspension for finals. If that's what the NRL wants, they could implement a similar rule to the tournaments you mentioned. But until then they need to judge fairly and with consistency or they end up making fools of themselves.
David HAAS
Guest
Arms is plural. His left arm was tucked in to brace for a shoulder charge. His right arm is therefore irrelevant
me too
Roar Rookie
i'm the opposite view. i would have turned off had he missed over that tackle. all things ideally should be viewed in isolation, not under a blanket. slater's tackle in no way deserved missing a grand final. not even a game. to say, well technically it was a shoulder charge, though hardly the type we envisenged when we made the rule, so the easy thing is to rub him out, is unfair on the player. commonsense prevailed.
ScottWoodward.me
Roar Guru
Boydy It’s dumb to cut off your nose despite your face, besides the only person who misses out is you, and that’s dumb! You are blaming the wrong people if you consider the decision for Billy to play was incorrect. The ref gave a penalty and the NRL MRC charged Billy with an illegal tackle worthy of 200 points (crazy weighting). The three men on the judiciary, one is a former Roosters captain, is independent and is NOT employed by the NRL. They deemed that there was sufficient evidence to clear Billy based on the exact wording of the law. All Billy and the Storm have done is try to mount a defence which is there right. The judiciary are all highly intelligent and above reproach. For what it is worth the vast majority of thinking people I spoke with, some coaches, all thought Billy should have got off. Anyway Boydy, hope you tune in mate, life’s too short
stevesyd
Roar Rookie
Maybe thousands wont get to see it either if Rooster and Nine Network boss Gyngell cancels the telecast in protest. At least we won't have to put up with Fittler's and Co biased commentary.
Barry Walker
Guest
Agree totally. Unfortunately we now know he didn't get off. I would say that if Billy was not a high profile player any other fullback would have been found guilty and miss the Grand Final.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
Was reading elsewhere 70% of shoulder charge reports have been successfully challenged at judiciary. Bit of perspective maybe?
El Loco
Roar Rookie
So I guess you won't be watching, but I bet you do.
Justin Kearney
Roar Rookie
Another article based on a false premise. Crowds were up this year and tv viewership held firm bucking a national trend of free fall particularly FTA. Get your facts right mate.
RoryStorm
Guest
Boo hoo.
RoryStorm
Guest
What time should your mummy collect you from your grandmas?
Shooter McGavin
Guest
Suffer in yer jocks then. Wasn't anything in it by any stretch of the imagination, probably hurt himself more in the impact.