One of the biggest black eyes on the NRL last season was the time it took players to get to the sin bin, and it’s something the league must address before 2019 rolls around.
While the referees should be commended for using it more to properly penalise teams who were happy to give away penalty after penalty or commit professional fouls, the fact of the matter is that the players turned it into something of a running joke.
The current proposal to clamp down on time-wasting as players walk – sorry, crawl – towards the sideline then, in the case of Cameron Smith, stop and have a ridiculous yarn with the touch judge is that a shot clock will be shown on screen in the ground.
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Though, to be fair to Smith, he did jog most of the way to the sideline rather than doing the slow walk every other player seems to do.
The rumoured time is 25 seconds, with players then set to be hit with a Grade 1 contrary conduct charge should they not be over the sideline by that time.
A Grade 1 charge brings with it a $1500 fine, and three in a season carry an automatic suspension.
The other option heard is that every second over the specified amount will mean players spend an extra second in the sin bin.
That’s all good and well, but at the end of the day $1500 for most players is pocket money. And a few extra seconds realistically won’t mean much in the grand scheme of things if their team has a proper breather before having to defend their line again.
(AAP Image/Action Photographics, Renee McKay)
Even if all of that is implemented and ratified by the NRL and the competition committee, it simply isn’t enough, nor should there be a set time in each instance.
Common sense needs to come into it.
While 25 seconds should always be enough for a player to reach the sideline from any point on the field and may also cut down arguing with the referee about the decision, this just isn’t enough of a deterrent.
It’s almost guaranteed players will continue their leisurely walks to the sideline as if out on a Sunday stroll rather than in the middle of Australia’s top-level rugby league competition.
It should be a really straightforward scenario for the NRL to solve. Not one which requires the use of shot clocks and fines.
Seriously, it’s as simple as this.
If you are deemed to be wasting time from the point the referee puts you in the bin to the moment you walk over the sideline, it’s seen as a second breach of the rules – another professional foul, if you will – and that player is then sent off for the game.
No questions asked.
This eliminates the need for the shot clock but brings in the need for common sense. What good is it having 25 seconds on the board if the player is sin-binned ten metres away from the sideline?
The rules should be made clear to every club before the season gets underway. You jog to the sin bin. No-one is asking you to sprint there, but you jog. Don’t muck around and don’t waste time, and you will be allowed back on in ten minutes.
Should that player argue with the referee, waste time or start taking the leisurely walk to the sideline, which has become all too common in the game over the last 12 months, they won’t return for the remainder of the game.
How easy is that? How simple?
The best factor about this deterrent is that it will never, ever need to be used. Players aren’t going to run the risk of being sent off for an early shower – unless of course it’s in the final ten minutes of the game and they weren’t going to return anyway.
There would be half a mind to team up the send-off rule with a fine and suspension to really stamp out the practice in 2019, but fines and suspensions alone aren’t going to be enough to stop these players from wasting as much time as they bloody well please on their way off the ground.
If we want a fast-flowing game, then this needs to be taken care of – and taken care of to the point where no-one will run the risk.
The only way to achieve that is to ensure the punishment fits.
RoryStorm
Guest
Thanks for bringing this subject up for discussion Scott. If there was one thing that really peeved me this year it was the deliberate dawdling of players to the sidelines after copping being sent to the sin bin. By the end of the year it had become a competition to see who could take the longest walk full well knowing that us fans didn't like it one little bit. I was waiting for a player to stop and roll a cigarette. I may be wrong but I think the first time we saw this snail paced walk to the sideline was the captain of the very team I support. Cameron Smith of the Storm. The smirk on his face as he was doing it only compounded my anger. After Smith did it without any further penalty added, it then became open slather. All very childish.
M20
Guest
I've always believed it should be a send off. I consider it to be dissent
Ged
Guest
You could easily force the sin binned player off quickly. Change the rules so the attacking team should be allowed tap immediately. if the sin binned player gets involved, obstructs or is deemed to infringe in any way. send off. No rest for the time wasting teams.
Christov
Guest
I disagree with your article - the most common sense thing would be to have the protocol, which I think the referees do have now, of explain the decision to the captain and player, send the player off, award the penalty to the other team and play on. That to me is common sense. The captain will be forced to get back into the line and the 10 minutes can start when the player gets to the NRL official on the sidelines. How simple would that be to implement? Instead lets have fines, 25 second clock (thus allowing the players another 25 second rest). If the sin binned player gets in the way of the opposition team then they can be sent off at the refs descretion (so that players don't look to milk the send off). The majority of the NRL's match problems could be solved by no-nonsense refereeing.
Zavjalova
Roar Rookie
20 seconds to get off the field, or automatic suspension for the next game. Isn't that what they do in soccer? Well kind of? Red card is an automatic suspension for the next game?
Louis McIntyre
Roar Guru
Disagree with this one as a send off is too harsh. I think the NRL have put appropriate measures in place and as mentioned above, there are bigger problems to look at. Possibly adding two minutes to a players sin bin if they are deemed to be taking too long would be sufficient. Referees would be unlikely to want to implement the send off and then would be crucified by the fans and media if they did choose to use it.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Maybe it should be 10 minutes in the bin plus the time it takes to reach the sideline , it might hurry up the stragglers.
Paul
Roar Guru
same same, James. If they came on in the 55th minute, were binned and didn't get off quickly enough in the 60th minute, they'd have to wait 75 minutes before playing again, because they'd only played 5 minutes, which would effectively rule them out of the next game as well
James T
Guest
How would that work for someone named on the bench.
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
Because Union has respect for the referees drilled into them from grade level up. Look at the way they talk to the ref, the way only the captain makes approaches, the way the ref calls people out by number, not "Jacko, come here mate".
Dogs Boddy
Roar Rookie
Yes, this. Original player being sent off wastes time, he is off for the game and the captain goes for 10 as well for not encouraging him to get off in a timely manner. Then if the captain walks off, wasting time, he goes for the duration as well and you send off the vice captain. Then just start picking random players, but it won't get that far. Once a team gets down to 10 players they should get the idea. Even league players should be smart enough to understand what is going on. One team will push the rules and whinge, hold fast and watch everyone jog off when told to.
Paul
Roar Guru
Scott, I've got a suggestion that borrows from penalties given out in gridiron. Before I get to that, Rugby League fields are 70 metres wide which means a player being binned only has to walk 35 metres tops to get off the field, so any suggestion of needing 25 seconds is way too long. The law should read "the ref bins the player and points to the nearest sideline, including the dead ball lines. The player must jog to that point (or be carried off if injured). If the player fails to go to the nearest sideline or does not make all reasonable steps to clear the playing area quickly, he is sent off for a period not exceeding 80 minutes, which may be carried over to his next Club game." In college gridiron, they have carry over penalties which means if a guy does something illegal in the second half of a game and gets ejected, he cannot play for the first half of the next game. This option would be more of a deterrent than what's been suggested because it applies to more than one game and would cover that situation where a guy deliberately takes his time in the last 10 minutes of a game to give his team a breather.
catcat
Roar Rookie
Hard to believe it has come to this...but agree with Scott let the refs make the call on it. Interestingly refs have less and less direct control on the game these days (with shot clocks/video refs) . The modern day on field ref only partially controls the game and the trend seems to be increasingly so
harold
Guest
Why is this not a problem in Rugby Union. Do they have a post match referral system if they don't go straight off??
Bearfax
Roar Guru
Though I agree with you Scott, seriously this is one of the least problematic issues in the game. Many of the biggest issues that cause concern in the game are caused by the administration. But they'll never fine themselves.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Mountain of a molehill, make it 20 seconds and a further 10 in the bin if they don't make it to the sideline. And who cares if someone takes 19.5? They were going to take 10 -12 anyway, are we really arguing about less than 10 seconds?
Brendon
Roar Rookie
I have to disagree on this one I'm afraid. We know its the players being fools, but can you imagine the flack the refs will cop for sending someone off for 10 minutes, then a subsequent 10 minutes because they didn't walk fast enough? It would result in less send offs. What happens when Luke Lewis is sin binned for Billy Slater falling over? Lewis gets binned, Gallen argues, within that 25 seconds Lewis is binned for a further 10 minutes/the entire game? How is that fare? I'm a fan of giving an out of game penalty, a contrary conduct charge, which can be appealed if its found to be reasonable. But playing devils advocate for a second, is it really such a bad thing? Sure it can be annoying for viewers on tv, but it doesn't really benefit one team over the other. It also allows the crowd to give the player crap for a longer period of time. Why make a big deal over something that in reality has no real infringement bar giving me a chance to grab a drink? If its such a big problem, cut to commercial, we all know channel 9 loves to do that right? Look a t a replay? Do something, why watch cam smith walk off the field?
Officer59
Guest
Agree 100% Scott. Over 25 seconds & they stay off. If the player is sent to the sin bin with only a few minutes remaining then he serves those minutes missed in the next game! Doesn't matter if it's 3, 6, 8 minutes or whatever! Unless the incorrect player is binned then there should be no argument. It may also stop referees from not binning a player when there are only a few seconds left on the clock! Eventually they will get the drift!
BennO
Roar Rookie
It's quite pathetic the way the players dawdle offile petulant children throwing a passive aggressive tantrum. I still don't understand why they do it. Why not just jog off the field and stop making your team mates wait for you?
Nat
Roar Guru
100% Scott, it really can be that simple. $1500 or equivalent seconds is no deterrent at all. If a speeding fine was $1/km over, we would all be Ricciardo wannabes. Why can't the ref send them to the nearest sideline/deadball? That would maximise the 25 seconds dramatically and get the game started sooner. While the 10mins still doesn't start until the hit the sheds, the longer they take to get there, the more detriment to the team. Imagine Bellamy spray if Munster took an extra 5 mins to walk around the field after being sent off?