A record number of charges in Round 9 shows the NRL’s match review committee has picked up the slack on the league’s crackdown on head and neck contact, with on-field referees yet to catch up.
When the MRC sheet dropped on Monday morning, 14 players were charged with offences over the weekend – the most since at least 1999.
Eight of those were charges relating to contact with the head or neck.
At various points in the past 22 years there have been 13 players charged over a weekend of football, but the last time was in 2015.
It’s an unwelcome record for the NRL, with head of football Graham Annesley saying they will reiterate the message to on-field referees before Magic Round this week.
“In recent times that’s a record to have that many charges in a round of football,” Annesley said.
“It’s showing that the match review committee and the judiciary are taking these matters seriously and they have reset their bar with how they deal with these things.
“We just need to get the referees and bunker officials on the same page.”
It follows a controversial weekend for the NRL’s officials, which started on Friday night in Parramatta’s 31-18 win over the Sydney Roosters.
Annesley says Marata Niukore and Dylan Brown should have been sin-binned at minimum for acts of foul play.
The incidents happened just two days after the NRL announced a crackdown on contact with the head and neck and encouraged the use of the sin-bin to stamp out foul play.
The Eels stars are set to miss a combined five weeks for a careless high tackle and dangerous contact respectively, but the NRL wants these matters dealt with on the field.
“At an absolute minimum the players should have been sent to the sin bin, because that activates the potential for the 18th man,” Annesley said on Monday.
“Sending off is the final step, and is something that could have been considered and there would have been no complaints from anyone in his building had they taken that option in one or both of the incidents.
“Not sending them to the sin bin was not acceptable.”
The Eels’ 31-18 victory also exposed a bunker fault that saw Brown put on report at the resumption of play for the second half – 20 minutes after he made contact with Sydney Roosters five-eighth Drew Hutchison.
Annesley said it was unacceptable and he’s concerned that it was not an obvious call immediately from the bunker.
“The whole thing was disjointed, the processes weren’t followed,” he said.
“I’m not making excuses for them, because they didn’t take the action that should have been taken.
“In this particular instance, there was three incidents they were reviewing, which is very unusual.
“We’ve taken steps to address that process to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Actually looking at the referees appointments this weekend Chiddy has been given the flick. I suppose someone has to get the blame he's normally be pretty good but I must applaud them for doing it .
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
It worries me that Annesley is the main go to man to front the media. The fact that he was a politician says enough. I also notice Troy Grant is CEO/ chairman of international rugby league.
mushi
Roar Guru
Then they can have constructive chats if the data shows someone is lenient or draconian.
Dutski
Roar Guru
That sounds fair enough to me
Adam
Roar Guru
He'll need to consult the Twitter response before going to the toilet in the morning
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
It's the alignment. You have to get the be moons to coincide. I'm at odds when he says the NRL and next minute says ARL commission. I'm not sure that's alignment I thought they were one.
Flexis
Roar Rookie
Clearly not. I can’t be bothered finding the exact quote, but recall him saying he would talk to someone (maybe the MRC) and take a closer look at the footage when asked whether he agreed with the referees decision. I feel like my expectations are pretty low in this area. And yet it was such a disappointing response. Almost had a ring of seeing what the public fallout would be before taking a side.
Adam
Roar Guru
The question I've always had is does the bunker/referees have a protocol to adjudicate foul play? If they don't have simple steps in place, what is Annersley actually doing? Other than throwing people under buses
mushi
Roar Guru
On the suspension vs sin bin. Perhaps the edict to referees and the bunker is if either think it is likely 2 weeks base suspension or more then it's a sin bin. 4 weeks... send off.
mushi
Roar Guru
Yep, I'm not a fan of the public lashing of referees. Sure hold them accountable behind closed doors. The argument that everyone else is publicly accountable is rubbish as it's only the media and fans. Who also get on the ref's, heck most go that route first. Players and coaches are more often than not dealt with behind closed doors.
Paul
Roar Guru
Annerseley doing what he does best - using hindsight to throw his refs under the bus. I'd hate to work for this bloke. The temptation to thump him or give him a spray would be overwhelming I reckon.