NRL hands Panthers breach notice over controversial trainer incident

& why does this u beaut bunker cost so much to run each year? Is it because they installed more cameras at a game? (if so, they still can't get a good shot down the sideline or along the try line), or are they paying the bloke in the bunker a small fortune?

Nah the Storm just do Rugby League better. Every player and every team has tried to dominate their opponent. You’d be surprised by how many teams are worse than the Storm when it comes to the ruck. Nathan Cayless was a pro at twisting blokes in tackles and Hindmarsh was the king of flopping. What are peoples thoughts on the great Tommy Raudonikis? He most certainly didn’t play within the rules and yet he was adore by many for achievements. I have nothing but respect for their professional attitude and success. Maybe it’s jealous and bitterness because it shouldn’t be a team based in Victoria being dominant and successful?I can guarantee many would love if their club played as consistently well as the Storm. For fun name a $1million dollar the Storm have poached? They have produced many.

Watch the replayed games for the Panthers on FOX Sports or KAYO Stu and start counting just how long they get in the tackle and how many second and third efforts they make. Then compare that to their opposition, who get penalised for less time in the tackle. Look at how the Panthers routinely advance the ball off the mark to take the marker out of play or draw a penalty. By their very nature, how can the Panthers continue to get 80% - 90% of the 50/50 calls? Something is definitely suspicious about that. Along with their play the ball speeds which are always way ahead of their opposition, indicating that not only are they able to get faster play the balls by having their own players involved in tackles to stop the opposition completing tackles and putting the Panthers ball carrier on the ground. It is also a testament to fact that the Panthers are being allowed more time in the tackle to the detriment of their opponents play the ball speed and attacking momentum. Even when the Rabbitohs beat the Panthers 16-10 the Panthers average play the ball speed was 3.51s while the Bunnies was 3.91s. Even going down to the Storm 37-10 in round 20 the Panthers average play the ball speed was 3.44s to the Storm's 3.54s. Everyone knows that the Storm are also very skilled at this tactic but even the Storm are not getting away with lying all over the tackled player or holding onto their legs or interfering with defenders to get quicker play the balls like the Panthers routinely get away with. It's time that this degree of excessive cheating is put to an end before the game becomes an utterly ridiculous spectacle. Or is everyone happy to see the kids playing park football trying to emulate these tactics? Shouldn't we be aspiring to the higher ideals of the game and playing the game in proper spirit? Or is victory at ANY cost worth the price of abandoning these principles?

I just don't think anyone has ever decided what the bunker is meant to do

With only 7 mins left I know the referee would be feeling the heat no matter who the referee happens to be

Albo some great points IMV, I don’t agree it was as serious as made out the trainer could have and should have taken the player off without interrupting the play as he was about 15m away and in no danger at the time. These match officials should be stood down for at least a week and undergo some re training ( The ref, the touch judge and the bunker official )

Phil Based off this year that would still be a top four finish. If anything it gives Ivan some fuel to rev the team up.

Duty of care was on pause when Mitchell cleaned up Manu only difference was the roosters were attacking.

Panthers have a good team of talented footballers. Something just feels is starting to feel a little off with what they are allowed to do and their treatment by officials. Cleary really does get things fall his way a lot more than most but maybe it just feels very different when your team is struggling week in week out for a win. The Capewell obstruction, kick try last year, followed by plenty of leg ups in the last 15min had me starting to think they were viewed differently.

Cannonball was a Souths/Madge invention, not the Storm. Melbourne have enough baggage without wearing that.

Here’s a suggested solution to make clubs think again before a trainer calls for the game to be stopped to treat an injured player who is not involved in the ruck. 1: Any stoppage by a trainer results in the opposition automatically getting a 6 tackle restart when play resumes. 2: The injured player must leave the field for a minimum 5 minutes before returning. 3: The injury replacement must take the field in the exact spot where the injured player was treated & has to make his way onside after the whistle to resume play at tackle 0 is blown & cannot be involved in play until onside behind the defensive line. Don’t tell me this wouldn’t stop coaching manipulation of the trainers stopping play for circumstances like this one highlighted or the Vunivalu cramp last year.

I’m not a supporter of either side so no vested interest here, but I reckon the Panthers were dudded with that no try ruling but got the rub of the green everywhere else. What showed up the most to me was the poor service from dummy half by the Eels fill in hooker, he threw at least 5 shocking passes including that final one to a guy who I’m sure was expecting to be a decoy runner. Reed Mahoney’s injury really put them out of contention, you have to remember he was in the Qld origin squad with a chance of playing before the initial shoulder injury & has consistently been a 50 tackle middle with a good running & kicking game. That’s a big hole to fill for an inexperienced rookie.

Ahh.. but after sticking their nose in everywhere before their error was one of omission. They stuck their nose up and ignored what they could have done like a miffed chicken...

I would have had no problem – no problem at all – with the trainer running on like that, if it had been a serious injury. A broken ankle is extremely painful, and it’s ended Mitch Kenny’s season – but that’s not a serious injury, not in this context. A head clash, a concussed player, a player clutching their neck or not moving at all, a popped-out knee – that’s worth stopping the game for. A broken ankle could have waited four more tackles, easily. And as such the only conclusion you can draw is that this was a deliberate act of unsportsmanlike conduct from the trainer (not from Kenny, who did everything he’s supposed to do).

Can anyone remember the last time Nathan Cleary was sin-binned? Has he EVER been sin-binned? I mean, even "Mr Untouchable" Cam Smith has been sin-binned and even suspended... just the once. So WHY is Nathan Cleary so sepcial and above the law along with his best mate Jerome Luai? “He (Ivan Cleary) worked for them. He worked for the referees before he went back into coaching. I’ve got to assume he’s got some mates there still.” – Wayne Bennett

An “as expected result“ from the NRL. A “hit with a Feather” punishment. Maybe the Eels still don’t score to win the game but they had the chance taken away from them against a 12 man tiring defensive line. How on earth the trainer could have known that the ankle injury to Kenny was so serious that play needed to be stopped (from 20m away) is superhero stuff. He must have X-ray vision or “spidey senses” to know that from that distance AND through his socks and boot! $25k! The Panthers are still laughing as they move into a preliminary final instead of mad Monday.

Yep Cleary should have been binned for the leg pull

I can't believe it, but I feel like the bunker was blameless for once.

Every single team does this, there are no exceptions. Panthers could point to numerous where the Eels "cheated" throughout the game but don't have to because they won. Ferguson and Moses taken blatent dives to con the referee for example, both won penalties where there was none. One resulting in a no try for the panthers

well, NRL Clubs have hired defensive coaches, tackling coaches and wrestling coaches so I guess the next purchase has to be an acting coach. Fergo could have used one on the weekend and he's not alone.