Parramatta coach Brad Arthur has pleaded for consistency from officials after Maika Sivo was sinbinned in their 64-10 NRL loss to Melbourne for a high shot.
Critics may have thought Parramatta winger Maika Sivo should have been sent off for his sickening high shot on Melbourne No.1 Jahrome Hughes in their NRL Magic Round clash.
But Eels coach Brad Arthur has pleaded for consistency from officials after Sivo escaped with a sin-binning in their 64-10 loss to a rampaging Storm at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
Queensland coach Kevin Walters and Penrith great Greg Alexander believed Sivo was fortunate not to be marched after his late hit on Hughes that forced the Storm No.1 from the field in the 49th minute.
A heavily concussed Hughes did not return and is expected to miss the Storm’s next-round clash against Wests Tigers on Thursday night.
“When you see it slowed down it looks pretty bad,” Walters said on Fox Sports TV commentary.
TV colleague Alexander added: “If he had have been sent off I wouldn’t have a problem with it”.
Yet Arthur hinted that a hit on Eels prop Daniel Alvaro three weeks ago in their 51-6 rout of the Tigers went unpunished after being asked about his take on the Sivo sin-binning.
Alvaro was forced to miss a game for the head knock he copped in the round-six thrashing of the joint venture.
Asked about Sivo’s copping 10 minutes on the sidelines, Arthur said: “As long as we are consistent.
“A couple of weeks ago Daniel Alvaro was hit in the head and there was no sin bin.”
Eels skipper Clint Gutherson certainly took exception with the sin-binning, blowing up at officials after Sivo received his marching orders.
He was no doubt fuming again when Melbourne piled on four tries in seven minutes while Sivo cooled his heels as the Storm ran away with the round nine clash.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy bit his tongue when asked about the sin-binning offence.
“I thought it was a penalty but having said that I only looked at it once – the refs and the bunker had a close look at it.”
Bellamy expected Hughes to miss the Tigers clash with Ryan Papenhuyzen to slot in at fullback.
“He’s a bit doughy. I don’t think he can play with a five day turnaround – he will be missing for a week I think,” Bellamy said of Hughes.
Chuznut
Roar Rookie
You could make the argument that Gutho blowing up like that before the punishment was handed down may have made Perenara change his mind from a send off to a sin binning though?
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Remember when players were marched 10 metres for back chat and the bin if they continued? I am afraid that referees are trying to manage the game rather than referee it. A forward pass nearly every six is play on, many tackled players end up with arms around the head and throat and believe it or not, the voluntary tackle is still in the rule book.
Radar13
Guest
Two things from the Sivo hit on Hughes. 1. The send off is obviously now dead in the NRL. Clearly a shoulder charge to the head and with no apparent attempt to make it look like a tackle. 2. How does Clint Gutherson get away with talking to the referee like that. You have a player, albeit Captain, screaming at the referee about what he can and cannot do over the incident. Sadly, the referee appeared too weak to halt proceedings there and tell Gutherson to stop talking or he would be sent him to the sin-bin. This incident needs to be reviewed by the match review committee, or at least the NRL needs to lay down clear guidelines about how players speak to the referees during a game.
E-Meter
Roar Rookie
He was just plain unlucky.
WarHorse
Roar Rookie
Try telling that to fonua blake who was binned and also copped 2 weeks for hitting pearce who fell into his tackle. And pearce was even lower to the ground than hughes.
WarHorse
Roar Rookie
Waiting for consistency from the Refs is like waiting up for Santa Clause.
E-Meter
Roar Rookie
99% of those tackles are put on report and a penalty. Sin bin was ludicrous. Hughes was falling just before Sivo crunched him. Send off is a laughable proposition.
Larry1950
Guest
Great piece of deflection there by a coach having to justify a 50 point loss, our guy got hit and injured a few weeks back and nobody got punished so how come my thug got sin binned for what should have been a send off. We want consistently bad refereeing to prevail because that's how the system is supposed to work. That incident & sin bin cost them the game? seriously, some coaches work in an alternate universe. Looking back to last week, the bad decision when Addo-Carr stepped on the line getting up to play the ball & the touchie stuffed up cost the Storm that game, but Bellamy was more realistic in identifying effort as the problem.
Phillip
Roar Rookie
Send offs are a nice thought bubble but considering how lob sided the Comp is I suspect the Storm would've scored nearly 100 points if they only had 12 Eels for the rest of the game to face. We already know who'll be fighting for a Grand Final birth this year, so lets not try to make it even easier for those few teams please?
McTavish
Roar Rookie
That's a send off every day of the week. Haven't seen the hit on Alvaro but even if that was somehow missed you can't let this sort of hit stay in the game. Good luck Gutho telling the ref "you can't do that. "
RoryStorm
Guest
Laine I would like to have read a bit more about the tackle being compared with other similar tackles like it so far this season, and what the penalty may or not have been, rather than comparing it with just the one other tackle. Have there been any others? I don't get to see every game.