Now that the dust has settled on the preliminary finals and we eagerly await the grand final this week, there are a couple of things we need to discuss before the season’s out.
Has the sin bin been put away for the year?
Some of the refereeing over the last couple of weeks has been poor to say the least, and this is going to be a major challenge for the NRL to get right sooner rather than later. But there are two recent examples of really poor refereeing where the sin bin wasn’t used when it was warranted, possibly impacting the finals results, and this creates a dangerous precedent going forward.
In the first incident, in the match between Souths and Parramatta, Damien Cook was penalised for pushing Junior Paulo down as he was rising to his feet to hopefully effect a quick play the ball in Souths red zone.
Penalty! No sin bin?
Mitchell Moses missed the penalty goal, as we all know, and Cook was instrumental in Souths’ try scored in the subsequent set.
Beats me – looked like a deliberate act by Cook which deserved both the penalty which was given and a sin bin.
In the second incident, in the match between Canberra and Melbourne on the weekend, Justin Olam was so far offside coming off his try line in defence that he was able to receive the pass from the Raiders’ first receiver.
Penalty! No sin bin?
Given how far the Raiders were behind at that point, awarding the penalty was no better for the Raiders than a six-again call. If Olam doesn’t get that far offside and catch the pass, the Raiders probably had their best chance of the match to that point of scoring a try and getting back into the game.
Olam was deliberately offside, interfered with the Raiders’ attack and should have been put in the bin.
Either the referees don’t know the rules or are too afraid to use them. If the referees put the sin bin away like this, we’re heading back to the bad old days of boring infringement-driven play. Does anyone really want to see this?
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The NRL failed the Raiders
Peter Vlandys and company have received lots of deserved praise for getting to the game back onto the field and for some successful innovations around rule changes, but he failed the Raiders, their fans and the game last week.
The Raiders had planned to fly into Brisbane early on Friday for their preliminary final against Melbourne that night and spend the day in a designated hotel in the city. That plan had been in the works for several weeks, with the NRL having assisted in putting pushing for approval from the QLD government in the event Canberra qualified.
It would have allowed the Raiders to fly out of Canberra at 10 am, have a meal at a Brisbane hotel and spend a few hours resting and preparing for the game before heading to Suncorp for the 7:50 pm kickoff.
However, the NRL was told on Wednesday by the QLD government they would need to have several COVID-safe measures in place for hotel staff with only two hours to have them approved. Not surprisingly, the Raiders deemed this an impossible task, and players and staff left Canberra more than four hours later on Friday and were forced to head straight to Suncorp from the airport.
Hardly ideal preparation for one of the most important matches of the year.
Vlandys needed to stand up to the QLD government here and insist that the original request be granted. What sort of increased biosecurity risk could have resulted by arriving four hours earlier?
To me, Canberra’s fateful first 20 minutes against the Storm reflected their lack of suitable preparation, and I wonder how the Storm would have started the game if the positions were reversed. Imagine the furore if Melbourne, QLD’s only remaining team in the finals, were afforded the same raw deal.
Mark this down as a failure for Vlandys, who perhaps had his mind on the Everest instead of rugby league.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Just when is a tackle completed?
When Canberra hit the field in the second half against Melbourne it was clear that their halftime chat with Ricky Stuart had somewhat changed their mindset. Dale Finucane, running the ball out from the restart kickoff, was met by four or five Canberra defenders who held him up and forced him 15 metres back into the Melbourne in goal, forcing a goal-line dropout.
Melbourne returned the favour sometime later with a similar tackle on a Raiders player.
While this was good theatre and underlined the increased intensity of the second half, was it within the rules? Is it something we want to see in the game? In many respects, the tackles resembled a small scale rugby maul.
If it’s acceptable for defenders to deal with an opposition player in this way, would it also be acceptable if some attacking players helped to propel the ball carrier to the line?
I would have thought that the tackle should be called as completed once the ball carrier’s progress (forward movement) has ceased. If this tactic is allowed to continue, we run the risk of player injuries or, worse still, playing rugby!
Why do we have trainers on the field?
The continued presence of “trainers” on the field is a blight on the game, and really, why do we have them? Last year’s grand final incident involving a trainer was a real low point. Let’s face it, they’re not trainers at all, but on-field coaches.
In an era of professional sport, where players are paid a small fortune to get through 80 minutes of what is, after all, a very simple game, do they need on-field coaches to tell them where to stand, who to tackle and which way to run? What an embarrassment.
I remember being an on-field coach at my son’s soccer matches for a couple of years but I think that cut out at age seven when they could work out how to play the game by themselves. Do they have on-field coaches in junior rugby league?
Other sports like football, rugby union, AFL and American football seem to get by without them so let’s get them off the league fields as well.
Games are now played with plenty of interchange opportunities and breakdowns in play after tries, goal kicks, video reviews, Cameron Smith asking questions and so on, so if players need a little drink of water they should be able to do it then.
Stephen Ackroyd
Guest
The Roosters 'threepeat' also requires some deconstruction. There was some conjecture as to exactly why the Roosters came close and failed - was it a psychological or physical failure ? A mass failure of the collective will ? Kyle Flanagan ? An examination of history reveals that only 5 clubs have won three consecutive premiership in the 109 years since Ray Warren commenced calling rugby league on Channel 9. In fact according to my research, the Roosters were the first to do it in 1939, the same year that the Morris brothers debuted for Canterbury. The Roosters have actually done it twice (1911 - 1913). Saint George, South Sydney and, most recently Parramatta have also won three consecutive premierships. It seemed that the Roosters entered somewhat of a twilight zone in the week before the South Sydney debacle. The flagellation was so complete and unexpected that there presumably there had to be some extraordinary psychological reason for it. The renowned rugby league writer and Titans supporter Sigmund Freud wrote 'anxiety arises from a transformation of the accumulated tension'. The central narrative of the 2020 season was could the Roosters win three straight ? The performances of their opponents were viewed through a parallel prism of could anyone stop them ? The concept of the threepeat itself became the end - not winning the premiership. That tension could have caused the anxiety which caused the underperformance. Its even more interesting that when you consider that both the eventual grand finalists only defeated the Roosters by a single point. In their epic semi final against Penrith, I believe the Roosters scored more points than any of the Panthers opponents during 2020. So, psychological or physical failure ? I tend to believe both. Players are not machines. Threepeats are so rare because they are simply so hard to achieve.
astro
Roar Rookie
Shorter sin bins might help, but it still relies on the Refs using it... For years now, the top performing teams are also those who give away the most penalties. Melbourne are always around the top in terms of penalties conceded (they're 3rd this year and Penrith are 7th), and the Roosters are similar. Good teams give away penalties and do so to their advantage, but everyone in the game knows this and the NRL just doesn't seem to care. In few other sports is it advantageous to be penalised, but in League, it works because teams know that wont have players sin binned or sent off. Refs have to be able to use the sin bin, but they're too often scared off by the repercussions. The NRL doesnt pat its Refs on the back for enforcing the rules, it suspends them for making mistakes, so Refs respond by not calling anything which could change the course of a game and making half-hearted rulings.
Nat
Roar Rookie
Greg, that's just a like-for-like nothing game, I could rattle off 1000 more examples in any scenario. My Taree mate has been pushing this line for years with not one shred of truth or historical evidence.
Tony
Roar Guru
Well you wouldn't watch the AFL
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Head to head with the AFL Grand Final at the same time?? Hmm, not sure the NRL wants to see how the ratings go in that contest. I reckon there's a fair few folks who watch both but if they had to choose......
zonecadet
Roar Rookie
Last seen in the Super League season. Most ball sports have the team scored on with possession to restart play.
elvis
Roar Rookie
Nah, who doesn't love a lazy forward being driven back in goal? That's what you get for just taking the ball up without thinking. It's harder than it looks, the ref is supposed to call held if the ball carrier if lifted off his feet, the so called armchair.
elvis
Roar Rookie
You know public health is DIRECTLY related to economic outcomes don't you? You don't have hospitals and doctors without taxpayers.Most people are getting tired of politicians using "but the virus" to justify wrong decisions.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Yeah but that doesn't excuse a dumb decision. No active COVID cases in the ACT for three fricking months. The whole squad in a bubble. It just doesn't make any sense.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
ACT Labor government just returned for a 6th term - what does that tell you about the other mob?
elvis
Roar Rookie
How many of those Blues paid full price for a ticket? I watched my last SOO at Lang Park when prices hit $250 for an average ticket and beer hit $10 for a plastic cup of some southern beer. I can easily afford it but I choose not to, I dislike being ripped off. But I pretty sure it would be a stretch for a family of 4 on a lower income. Don't blame Qld fans for the promoters greed.
Greg
Roar Pro
Has the sin bin been put away for the year? I don't think Cook should have been sinbinned, I do think Olam should have been, others don't. Either way this point doesn't overly concern me (so long as it hasn't genuinely be put away rather the ref just didn't deem it bin worthy) as decisions one way or the other as almost every ref decision some will agree and some will not. The NRL failed the Raiders The raiders failed the raiders. They should have planned for no preferential treatment from the Qld government. The NRL should have and likely were negotiating for something that would allow better preparation but it should never have been expected. And if the raiders weren't expecting it they could have prepared as though they were going to play under the same travel conditions faced all year. Just when is a tackle completed? I have always thought so long as momentum doesn't stop and the ball carrier is not lifted off the ground (or his ball carrying arm doesnt hit the ground) then the defensive team is allowed to push. However I cant see a rule that actually says this. and if no such rule exists, agree it should have been called held at the 15 metre mark. Where my (and I believe widely held) interpretation came from I cant say but I like it that way. I believe it makes for more exciting moments. Why do we have trainers on the field? Unlike many sports rugby league is all high speed, continuous and limited in interchanges. It is also a seasonal sport that typically doesn't go past the first month of Spring. This year we've removed many of the stoppages that previously allowed water breaks during the game, without time to adapt and continued the season further through Spring. To me it seems ridiculous to not allow trainers on the field. If the game was played in quarters or the stoppages remained then maybe I could get behind no trainers on the field but as it stands, we need to allow them to run water out. And like all sports tactical messages are going to go out with them.
Nat
Roar Rookie
What can I say mate - Welcome to Qld...
Greg
Roar Pro
despite when Raiders made any requests, the NRL and the Raiders are powerless to over rule the Qld Government. If they hadn't heard anything by fulltime against Roosters they should have been planning on Qld not making exceptions for them.
Greg
Roar Pro
Agree with Nat regarding V'landys and Qld government. Agree with Barry re Olam sin bin (though disagree with regard to Cook)
Greg
Roar Pro
Whilst I think that neither NSW or Qld can claim to have more passion or whatever, you get both highly dedicated and fickle fans in both. However, this again isn't even close to apples with apples. Round 20 a spoon was a game between rivals with the spoon to be determined. The 2017 example is 2 teams with no real history or feeling between the two, miles apart (I know that Brisbane and Townsville are just as far apart but there are no NRL teams between them to capture the fans in between), with the spoon already determined.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
More a failure by the Qld government I would have thought given the NRL put in a request 3 weeks before - why did it take so long to respond? And why did they respond the way they did? Giving the players a few hours to relax and then time to prepare should have been a no-brainer. Instead they go from the airport straight to the ground and are expected to hit the ground running.
Tony
Roar Guru
Well Geoff, this is a big failure by the NRL. They should have organised this ages ago and, if it wasn't going to be possible, moved the game to Sydney
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
I'm sure the Storm would have reacted exactly the same way given similar circumstances.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
This is taken from the Brent Read article in The Australian last Wednesday The Raiders, via the NRL, raised the issue with the Queensland government three weeks ago. They have been patiently waiting for a response and it finally arrived late on Wednesday, much to the dismay of chief executive Don Furner and coach Ricky Stuart. The Raiders will now be forced to fly into Brisbane only hours before kick-off and head straight to the game. “Bitterly disappointed,” Furner said. “The bureaucrats clearly have their feet up on a desk. They clearly couldn‘t be bothered with it. They’re clearly setting us up to fail. “It‘s a standard request. We have done it before and we have proven as a game that we can follow protocols. “The fact is the NRL requested it three weeks ago and only received a response yesterday.” I'm thinking that the Raiders and the NRL have gone through this process just in case the Raiders found themselevs in this position - but the Queensland government hadn't bothered to respond until a couple of days to go. Ricky was composed but understandably pi$$ed off after the game.