Right. So, that Roosters trainer on the field in the grand final. Yeah, we need to pick that apart. And I think I have a great long-term solution for the NRL to apply.
In a nutshell: no trainers on the field.
At all.
Because why the hell do grown men who spend their entire professional lives learning to be the best rugby league players in the world need someone holding their hands when they take the field?
My rugby league career lasted three years, playing for the South Newcastle Lions in the Under 10s, 11s and 12s.
I was horribly uncoordinated (still am) and had a tendency to overthink situations (still do) – should I run out of the line and tackle this kid? Which shoulder is going to be more effective? Is my body set for the correct technique? Is…whelp, doesn’t matter anymore, while I was doing all that thinking he ran past me.
My coaches did their best to help me and my teammates overcome our deficiencies at training during the week, but come Saturday morning, it was just us out there on the field.
Of course, the Under 9s and younger players had their coaches on the field with them, because they needed a bit of extra help.
Not us ten-year-olds though. We did it on our own.
We were big boys.
Yet somewhere along the way, rugby league players reverted back to their junior days, needing their coach (or a coaching surrogate) out there to tell them what to do.
And let’s not kid ourselves, that’s exactly what Travis Touma was doing on the field in the 2019 NRL grand final when the ball struck his head, leading to the Roosters receiving six more tackles and ultimately scoring the first try of the decider.
While officially Touma was there to either “attend to an injured player, carry water, or deliver individual messages”, he was actually on the field barking orders at the players.
I’m not having a go at the Chooks either – as Tim Gore has repeatedly stated for many, many years (the man deserves a Walkley – Daniel Jeffrey, I’m looking at you Boss Man, put our boy Pork up for some kind of major gong) every NRL team does it.
And it’s embarrassing.
Seriously, what professional sporting code decides that their players are so sore, thirsty or stupid that they need trainers on the field with them 90 per cent of the time?
And those poor-ass reasons are the defined causes that allow trainers to enter the field of play – as stated above, they’re there to “attend to an injured player, carry water, or deliver individual messages”.
Deliver individual messages? How about they’ve had an entire week at training to hammer messages into the players’ brains, to say nothing of the months and years these blokes have spent playing the game at the top level.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Add the fact there are eight interchanges per match – players talk to one another y’know – and a halftime break, and there’s plenty of time for the coach to get messages to his charges.
Carry water? Look, hydration is obviously important, but maybe we only allow water to be brought onto the field at breaks in play? The average NRL game has the ball in play for 53 minutes, which means there are 27 minutes’ worth of opportunities for players to receive a quick squirt of H2O, as well as halftime. That’s an average of a mouthful every three or so minutes.
Is it beyond the pale that water doesn’t go out any more frequently? I mean, I know when we won the Under 11 grand final – I was part of the winning team, I made a contribution, you can all shut up – we only got water at breaks in play.
Perhaps if chubby 11-year-olds can do it, full-time athletes have enough stamina to last three minutes between hydration breaks?
Finally, trainers attend to injured players. I get that. Of course.
But if a player isn’t so hurt that they need to leave the field of play, then the trainer can attend to them away from the game.
My proposal is that if a player is injured, they should go down in backfield, be attended to, and only once the trainer has left the field of play can the ‘injured’ player re-join the game.
It’s a 13-a-side code. Is it really such a crazy idea that we only allow 13 able-bodied people on the field for each team at any given time?
I’m often told that I don’t know what it’s like because I was never – ever – a full-time footy player. And for sure, there are aspects of the sport that I can’t fathom, having not played it past the age of 12.
But I did play it as a kid. And for those three years, my teammates and I – as well as our opponents – all managed to get on without someone out on the field telling us what to do.
Yet somewhere between the Under 12s and the professional ranks of the NRL, players went backwards and needed a voice in their ear to tell them how to play the game.
In Under 10s, we would watch the nine-year-olds play before us and quietly snigger at the babies who needed a coach to hold their hand and tell them what to do.
Here’s the real joke: that’s exactly what top-flight NRL players receive.
It needs to stop. Trainers should be barred from the field of play except to administer assistance to injured players.
Because big boys don’t need someone holding their hand to tell them how to play a game of footy.
Footy Fan
Guest
'cuz' -> 'via'
Footy Fan
Guest
I'll go against the grain here. Many are asking: 'why are the trainers on the field?'. The answer's known, not a mystery: they deliver messages, water, investigate injuries (getting players up or off as required) and carry out concussion assessments (getting play going again cuz clearance or substitution). The last 2 have been frequent across the last season - if you watch regularly, you'll see it taking up noticeable time. Based on all that, I'd be asking the opposite Q: how long are you prepared to wait? And how many times do you want to watch a trainer jog 60m from their bench delaying proceedings? My personal view: as infrequently as possible please. There are more than enough delays. Cheers!
Nat
Roar Guru
I agree with everything you've said except it's not the responsibility of the NRL to manage player welfare. The club has complete control of his welfare. They have their own doctors, physio's and strappers doing their utmost to keep him on the park. They know his body condition, they know what he's like on Monday morning but they needle them up and send them out week after week. So when they are offering these guys long contracts they should be accountable for it under the cap. At the very least for the season they started. I wouldn't care if they were compensated for this year but last year was BS and absolute favouritism for the Hollywood man so he can talk up his team in the US and bring Hollywood money to the NRL.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
"Damn you for drawing me into this..." :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: GI is a legend. The best NSW Origin player ever to play for QLD! :laughing: If QLD can get special treatment for most of State of Origin's history why can't GI be a special case? It's about time that the NRL started setting precedents that are actually in the best interest of the game. Forcing players to play on when they are medically incapacitated is NOT in best interest of the game or the players who have given everything to the game. It also isn't in the best interest of the game to burden clubs under the salary cap for compensating players when the responsibility for compensation lies with the NRL as administrators and owners of the game. THEY register players to play in the NRL. THEY decide whether players should be de-registered or medically retired. THEY are responsible for player welfare. THEY are making $1.2 billion from selling the game to the broadcasters. If THEY aren't responsible for bearing the cost and the burden of medically retiring players then who is? It certainly shouldn't be the clubs.
Bigrhino
Guest
Oh thank you ! - been saying this for years ! I saw enough of Langer during his career and he’s the worse culprit ! - come on NRL grow a set and make the game more enjoyable to watch
Nat
Roar Guru
"Sometimes he is on for 5 – 10 mins at a time an 6 successive sets" Trainers are allowed on there as long as they have the ball. The only club who gets 6 successive sets is the Rabbits when the refs piggyback them up/down the park.
Jacks
Roar Guru
I really disagree. While it's not punishing the clubs to make them carry in this instance Burgess into the future and his pay. I don't see why South's should get saved when they're the ones to blame for the situation. If the roosters had signed Cronk for 4 yrs at 500k and then medically retired him this year people have the right to be annoyed. Same as this situation with Burgess imo
Nat
Roar Guru
Alfie has his own TPA - Tiny Person Allowance, funded solely by the Caxton and supplies XXXX to the boys in the field. Darius doesn't miss tackles by chance, he's sloshed and gets grumpy with the journos! :laughing: They DON’T make a play at it! Come off it, we all watched the same game. He deflected the ball from hitting his head, he wasn't playing at the ball. An arm up is vastly different to a hand out. Your big brother rage has your drawing at straws mate. (Damn you for drawing me into this - I DON'T CARE, the better team won) Tell me why Inglis is the only player ever to get medically retired and compensated by the NRL during the season? Parra tried it with Watmough with no luck by the NRL or the insurance company. Why should the NRL compensate them? For years Souths done everything possible to keep him on the park. Needled him up for years for their own benefit and gave him long contracts knowing full well the condition he was in. They put him on the park in round 1, they took the risk with a team of doctors advising them. They neglected their duty of care to Inglis as a player and a person then get compensated by the NRL -I call BS! Absolute favouritism for a bloke who brings in massive corp money and international exposure for the game - Big Rustry. Claiming $1.2m off the cap from the clubs own fault is a fact. Roosters $2m over the Cap is another Papi conspiracy. Guess which one I acknowledge to be true?
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
The reason Langer is singled out is because he spends more time on the field than any other trainer. Sometimes he is on for 5 - 10 mins at a time an 6 successive sets. Long enough to be counted as an extra player just behind the Broncos front line. ;-)
My Little Pony
Roar Rookie
The reason Allan Langer is singled out is because he's well known. He's not on the field more than any other trainer but he is more recognisable. The only thing people seem to agree on is that trainers should not be on the field unless there is a stoppage in play. Well, almost everyone agrees because unfortunately, coaches and the NRL administration seem to think it's ok.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately MLP I missed that game so I can't comment on that. For the vast majority of the year I haven't noticed that that was happening with the Rabbitohs trainer. Bottom line, I'm against the trainers for ALL clubs being out on the field for ANYTHING other than an injured player. Get rid of them except for when they are legitimately required. Let players come to the sideline for a drink if they can't wait for HT.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
I'll pay that mushi. Just like "Uncle Nick" will pay as much as is required OVER the legal salary cap to buy premierships and then employ someone who used to police the salary cap system for the NRL to assist the Rorters with their financial shell and pea game. # 2013, 2018 and 2019 prems DON'T count! :laughing:
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
"It was a 1/1,000,000 chance that I guarantee you haven’t seen in the last 10yrs in the NRL" That's because the other 15 trainers ALL AVOID the ball if it comes their way. They DON'T make a play at it! As for the shot at Alan Langer, well I think that was justified. After all Nat he DOES spend more time on the field than any other interchange player in the NRL. On that basis alone he should be included on the Broncos salary cap! :laughing: :laughing: :laughing: Finally, about Sam and the extra $1.2 mill, I've been on record for the last 3 years at least arguing in favour of medical retirement for chronically injured players that the NRL and NOT the clubs are responsible for compensating. The clubs should NOT be penalised under the salary cap for this. I don't understand Nat why you are concerned about the Rabbitohs rightfully being able to reclaim $1.2 mill of their salary cap but you have never expressed a concern about the Rorters being at least $2 mill over the salary cap for the last TWO years! How else do you explain the embarrassing riches of representative talent in that side and TWO back to back illegal premierships? The last time a club won back to back titles there was no salary cap and the Broncos had a full QLD Origin team and three quarters of the Australian test team! THAT should tell you something Nat. So to quote another infamous QLDer; "Please explain?" ;-)
My Little Pony
Roar Rookie
I also can’t remember the Rabbitohs having a trainer on the field in the first 10 mins of a game that alone the first TWO mins! Explain that. The Rabbitoh's trainer is on the field from the first minute just the like the trainer for every team. I don't know if you watched the preliminary final but Souths received the kick-off and the first set of the match had the Souths trainer standing in the attacking line, from the first tackle of the game.
Nat
Roar Guru
Mate, that's their job. Ricky was asked the same question. In this one thread, you've thrown stones at the Broncos, Sebold, Cheika, JT, some un-named media "identity". What are you trying to prove? As Hamlet alluded too, you're continuous protest reeks of guilt and insecurity.
mushi
Roar Guru
The only reason a rabbitohs trainer didn't do that in a grand final is because you've only been to 1 in the last 40 odd years
Nat
Roar Guru
Are you asking me to justify why the trainer was there? My lack of commentary on the issue over the last few weeks comes down to I DON'T CARE. Your carrying on like it was a set play. It was a 1/1,000,000 chance that I guarantee you haven't seen in the last 10yrs in the NRL. Or have you watched more games than every other commentator who have never seen it before? But if this boofhead wants to start throwing stones at my club, I'll point out some friendly facts about the favourable treatment the redfern mob have been receiving for years. Is Sam going to retire 2 games in next season? There's another $1m in the kitty no other club has benefited from.
Papi Smurf
Roar Rookie
The Rabbitohs trainer doesn't involve themselves in the game, handle the ball and prevent tries from being scored Nat. That's a pretty significant difference don't you think? I also can't remember the Rabbitohs having a trainer on the field in the first 10 mins of a game that alone the first TWO mins! Explain that.
brookvalesouth
Roar Rookie
Who decided we needed extra people on the park coaching the teams ? Coaches.
Red Rooster
Guest
I have heard the saying as Hamlet was compulsory when I was at high school over 50 years ago. What did JT expect Robbo to say? "Confusing call by the ref. We should replay the game next week". Have you heard the saying "you cannot be serious?" No not Shakespeare but John Mc Enroe.