Cameron Smith escapes with fine, Maika Sivo set to miss Round 1 next year

No mate, not just a tug on the jersey. Jurbos clipped Gagai's feet following the jersey tug. Either one could be called a professional foul but two together? Come on mate. Especially after Manly had already resorted to a deliberate trip to rob the Jet of a scoring opportunity. Manly were beaten twice and chose to commit a professional foul on TWO occasions to stop TWO certain tries. Both were obvious if you use commonsense. ;-)

You call for commonsense but you wanted Manly players put in the sin bin all night for every little knit pick infringement? “Nature of the Game “Gagai drops like shot from a from a jersey tug as he decelerates to positions himself between the ball carrier and cover defenders. Then the game is stopped when Sam Burgess drops the ball forward and then lies on the ground whilst Manly gain possession and are looking to get a quick play going when the game is on the line?

Like Moylan my memory of that is a little vague. ;-)

Or like Sammy Burgess attacking the head of Moylan or Billy Smith?

Yeah very true. If Atkins had been able to blow his whistle straight away instead of just watching, we probably aren't even having this discussion. Also, i realise he wasn't fearing for his life, just pointing out that he wasn't completely at fault in what led up to the "slap".

I dont agree with all your points Papi but its well written . You addressed the specific nature of the question and were succinct in your explanations. Your style is neither too florid nor too dry and you restrained yourself from over-emotive invocations. Overall a very pleasing piece. A-.

Because the pride of the league can sell out a make or break semi final against another Sydney team...

I think people are talking in generalities partly though as well. We all know Smith lashed out and deserved the 10 mins, but I think Mahoney was hardly fearing for his life and he has indicated as such following the game. The problem is that the pocket ref can't or won't use his whistle. Just blow the whistle for a penalty and if the situation doesn't immediately cool down then look at punishment. I'm happy enough for the penalty to take place at the place of the indiscretion or where the ball lands. Too often the NRL can reduce the risk of this kind of thing happening by making the referees proactive rather than reactive.

Yeah , I think that's fair.

Given how the game was at the time, it definitely could have been a scoring opportunity :crying:

Playing devil's advocate, it could also be argued that Smith the way Smith was crouching over Mahoney was an attempt to intimidate him. He clearly "Face-palms" Mahoney before attempting to get up, perhaps Mahoney held on to try and keep Smith close to protect himself? Did Mahoney hold on too long? Of course he did. But lets not pretend that the first thing Smith did was strike him trying to get away. All said, the holding on too long, and the face-palming happen in every game, Smith lost his cool for whatever reason though, and got binned for it.

Agreed. Mahoney went way, way overboard hanging on to Smith. Deliberately antagonising him, outside of the rules. Same thing in the other game. Gosiewski slammed the Souths players head into the ground twice, completely unprovoked and outside the rules. Walker gets walked for a tame by comparison slap. No problem at all with them getting ten, but they need to look at the instigator too, particularly if they’re doing things outside the laws of the game.

Nanny State - Gould's comment not mine but it's a statement I agree with. Effectively this means micromanaging in the extreme every facet of the game both on and off the field. Off-field the NRL can at times encroach on a player's civil liberties. On-field there are now stoppages for every "boo boo" that requires "the magic sponge". Soon the referee will offer to "kiss it to make it better" as they continue to baby and mollycoddle grown men like a British nanny. This also extends to warning players they are going to penalise them and directing their actions on-field like an under 6's football coach. political correctness -this is in reference to policies and actions from the NRL that are more concerned with not giving offence than showing some backbone and making some tough calls for the good of the game. The NRL was guilty of this in the extreme with their gross overreaction to the Jack De Belin scandal based on their perception of public outrage and tried to change the rules on the fly and enforce them before they were even in existence! The true nature of the game - the game is a gladitorial contest not a choreographed ballet. It is violent and combative, it is fast, athletic, random and unpredictable and based on high impact and aggression. Played at speed with momentum and constantly changing variables accidents happen and sometimes these are the fault of the player carrying the ball who either ducks into a tackle or changes direction unexpectedly at the last second and therefore place themselves in danger. Players are not computers and cannot react in nanoseconds. They are governed by the laws of physics just like the rest of us and momentum and limited reaction time can sometimes lead to unavoidable accidents without malice or intent. The referees and the judiciary clearly don't seem to understand that. If a player either slips, ducks or is falling as a result of a tackle AFTER a defender is already in the process of making a tackle it is virtually humanly impossible for them to halt mid-action in the blink of an eye.

Yes the RL euphemism of "only took up the game a couple of years ago" means he was playing Rugby Union as 45% of the NRL is now Pacific Islands heritage and the majority of them started in RU.

I assume they are offering discounted NRL GF tickets already for fear of a GF without Souths in it as the other teams would be poorly supported in Sydney?

Professional foul, could have been a scoring opportunity

So explain, ifyou can, the differences between your view of “common sense” (i.e., what you personally want without any reference to rules) and “semantics over the letter of the law” (i.e., what you personally don’t want without any reference to rules) and your well-known penchant for hollering “But the inconsistency!”

So, old frothymouth: what do you mean by Nanny State, political correctness, the true nature of the game, blah blah blah? Anything coherent or are you just raving and ranting because “fings ain’t wot they useta to when I was growing up in the back streets of (insert tough-sounding suburb)”? Or should we just elect you Supreme Commander?

Christov, that is the most sensible comment I've seen or heard from anyone about the Smith/Mahoney incident. Mahoney was holding onto Smith's jersey and wouldn't let go. He blatantly held Smith back from following his kick. Professional foul, automatic sin bin. The wrong bloke was binned.

Am I the only one who thinks the other player needs a fine too. You could argue that holding onto a player keeping them out of the defensive line led to Smith lashing out, resulting in the fine?