Trent Robinson has let loose on referee Ashley Klein after Nathan Brown’s send off in the Roosters’ victory over Manly on Thursday night at the SCG.
The coach was left bemused by the decision to march Brown, who had only entered the game for the first time just 30 seconds prior, for a high tackle on Ben Trbojevic.
In the morning charges, Brown received just one match with the Early Guilty Plea or two if he fights the charge – relatively light given that Val Holmes, who was only binned for a high shot last week, ended up with four matches on the sideline.
Robinson did not question whether it was a penalty, or even that it might have been a sin bin, but baulked at the idea that it was worth a dismissal.
The coach compared the officiating standards of rugby league and rugby union, pointing out that while tackles such as Brown’s would be routinely met with a red card in the 15-man code, they almost never are in the NRL.
“If we had two more people on the field, that would have been a send off,” he said.
“In that other code, it would have been sent off many weeks in a row. But forget that game, in our game, that’s not how it’s adjudicated.
“I imagine they’ll say that it’s a send off, but I can give you much worse tackles than that that haven’t been sent from the field.”
Robinson said that he would have been fine with a sin bin, but that a send off was far beyond the current standard.
“On where the game is being adjudicated at the moment, 100%,” he said when asked if it was worthy of a binning.
“That’s where the game is being adjudicated. If you can let me know of guys who have been head-high, concussed, and not been sent from the field, which I can give you many, then what made that stand out? Why was that a send off in the current climate?”
It was the lack of consistency that riled Robinson, given that no player has been sent from the field in the NRL since Jacob Saifiti in Round 2 – save for Reece Walsh and Jarome Luai for fighting with each other in State of Origin – and there have been many tackles similar to Brown’s.
“When was the last send off?” questioned Robinson.
“We’ve had high tackles, shoulder charges, all of it. It was a high tackle that hit him in the neck, that had no effect on him (Trbojevic). He got up and elbowed pretty quickly after that which wasn’t sighted and went unpunished.
“You don’t want to see it, I don’t think it’s great for Ben, but there’s so much worse than that in the game – and that gets sent off?
“If the goalposts have moved tonight then move them and send that off, but if we can’t mention when the last send off was…guys have been heavily concussed from high tackles and all of that – nothing happened there tonight and he gets sent from the field.”
Opposing coach Anthony Seibold refused to be drawn on the tackle.
“I thought it was foul play, so I was comfortable with the send off, but I hate commenting on other team’s players,” he said.
“It’ll go to the Match Review. I don’t think it was deliberate from Nathan but I understood why he got sent off.”
Both coaches, however, were unhappy at the performance of Klein, who doled out 34 infringements across the game.
Seibold thought that the bulk of them were as a result of deliberate tactics from the Roosters, but Robinson bristled at that idea and suggested that Klein
“It was incredibly stop start,” said the Roosters coach.
“Was that any different to any other NRL game this year or was it refereed (differently)? I think Ash was really trying to make a point, but that didn’t stop for the whole game. It was a strange one.”
Nick
Roar Rookie
No I was watching the one where lots of others on this tab saw it for what it was. Dinosaurs have a different view though, I do concede
Bartz
Roar Rookie
Sounds like you were watching a different incident to the one I’m talking about, but just in case we’re talking about the same thing, if that counts as a send off then most games will be ending with both teams having ten players. As always with officiating, the key thing is consistency. If the officials want incidents like this one to be a send off they should do it all the time, not randomly out of nowhere while not doing it for ones that are far worse.
Maxtruck
Roar Rookie
No, he jumped into the tackle, and hit head, off. But Badger is the worst of all both on field and bunker
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
UNfortunately, it looks that way..
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
You only want to punish a tackle of someone gets injured, no matter how reckless? C'mon!
Rosie
Roar Rookie
I wonder if Robo is familiar with the saying “two wrongs don’t make a right” how pathetic to say that all the high shots in the past weren’t bad enough to be sent off so that excuses Browns high shot from being sent off???
Adam
Roar Guru
Imagine a coach sending out JWH and Radley and still expecting to be taken seriously...
Pickett
Roar Rookie
He gave his opinion - which some other non Easts fans also agree with.
NQR
Roar Rookie
Obviously you missed Kikau’s career in a Panthers jersey. LOL oh and I suspect the Panthers are good Christian boys.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
So he says something short and bland not waffle and whine.
Pickett
Roar Rookie
He gave oxygen to it because the journo asked him about it?
Panthers
Roar Rookie
No Panthers on charges or suspended for shoulder charges at all in recent times, as they haven’t done any. That’s that vivid imagination of yours at work again. The other rubbish you’re on about. Is only something that you could see? If that wasn’t so, everyone would have been up in arms about it. Yet nothing… The recent success that they’ve had, was due to better defence. Simple as that. You’re forgetting that the subject was Brown’s shoulder charge . That he did. Just as Holmes did & both were deliberate. You brought Holmes into it!
NQR
Roar Rookie
Just like the reverse spinning elbow that the Panthers player did causing concussion and multiple facial fractures. Look up reverse spinning elbow technique and see how it’s done perfectly to Luki? Shoulder charge LOL. That would be something the Panthers snipers would know plenty about. Interesting how the Panthers rise has coincided with V’landy’s new rules.
Kai Levuka
Roar Rookie
Yup it’s the standard… nothing to do with player safety.
Kai Levuka
Roar Rookie
So you think that refs should have a chart with the list of tackles ranked and every time there is a high shot compare them? Right.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Your eyesight is alright when it’s not a Cowboys player. You need to put your glasses on for the Cowboys. Holmes hit was a deliberately high shoulder charge & the second one he did for the game.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
JWH would still never be sent off , or get any weeks suspension.
NQR
Roar Rookie
Holmes didn’t leave the ground. Holmes aim was upper chest and Campbell significantly dropped before contact. Enough for it to be reckless. Seriously Brown left the ground and intentionally aimed high as I don’t think there was little to no lowering from Ben Trbojevic. I don’t know how the Roosters don’t get players sent a lot more. Perhaps it was a Clayton send off so it looks like the NRL hasn’t been looking after them. You see the Roosters were winning comfortably against a 12man opposition?
Geoff Parkes
Expert
For mine, any coach who sends JWH out on the field, week after week, forgoes all right to comment on high shots or foul play...
Artesia
Roar Rookie
This exactly. Even when they win Trent Robinson finds something to whinge about. If it wasn't for the superlative sooking by Ricky Stuart, he'd have the title. It is never his team's fault, they never have to change anything about their game... excuse after excuse. And just like Mr Stuart, he is a media darling and is never called to account...