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NRL refs boss Graham Annesley has backed the decision not to give a penalty to Manly in the closing stages of Friday night’s loss to the Warriors.
Manly were left fuming after fullback Reuben Garrick was upended by his Warriors counterpart Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, with the Sea Eagle being taken out in midair and falling dangerously on his back, sustaining an injury in the process.
No penalty was forthcoming, however, as the players were competing for a bouncing ball, which is currently considered fair game. Had the contact been from a kick, it would have been an obvious penalty.
Not only was Garrick injured, but Manly were denied an easy two points from in front of the posts with the scores tied in the final ten minutes. Instead, the Warriors went up the other end and scored a try, finishing the Sea Eagles’ season in the process.
“We’ll review all the rules and if there is a way of making the game safer, we have always defaulted to that,” said Annesley
“(But) under the existing rule, there was no requirement on the referees to form a view that that was a breach of the rules. Injury alone is not a determination of whether the rules have been breached or not.
“(Players) can get injured in legitimate tackles, so you have to look at this particular situation and look at the circumstances. Was there any lack of care taken by Nicoll-Klokstad? I don’t think there was.”
Now, league bosses are discussing if the rule should be changed to encapsulate all situations where players are leaping.
“Changing the rule will certainly be considered at the end of the year as part of our review into the season,” said Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys to the Sydney Morning Herald.
“If there is a loophole in player safety, we’ll correct it. That’s our number one objective. What’s the difference between a bouncing ball or a high ball if you’re in the air? That’s what we’ll need to weigh up when we sit down and review it.”
In the post-match presser, Anthony Seibold said it should have been called.
“That’s a penalty every day of the week,” he said. “The rule says it’s not because the ball bounced and wasn’t a kick, but how many times do we pull tackles up for a slight crusher or give the penalty for someone slipping up from chest to jaw?
“Fair dinkum, let’s be serious … I’ll get a phone call from [referees coach] Dave Fairleigh or somebody from the NRL tomorrow and they’ll apologise…It was a dangerous tackle. He’s injured. He couldn’t finish the game and it’s our season on the line so I am pissed off about it.“
Annesley did, however, concede that Newcastle should not have been awarded a try in their win over Souths on Sunday as Jacob Saifiti’s effort was found to have been scored on the eighth tackle of a seven tackle set.
“There’s no excuse for it, it’s a straight miss by the referees,” said the ref’s boss.
Souths assistant coach Sam Burgess is set to take over the main job at Super League club Warrington next year – and he’s already planning his first signing.
According to reports in the UK, the Bunnies legend is lining up Melbourne Storm centre Justin Olam as a marquee signing to kick start his time in the Super League.
Olam is on the outer at the Storm, having been dropped from first grade following a run of poor form. He last appeared in the NRL in June and has spent the last five weeks with the Sunshine Coast Falcons in the Queensland Cup, where he appeared this weekend in a win over Tweed Heads Seagulls.
The PNG Kumuls superstar – who is reported to have the highest number of third party deals in the NRL due to his prominence in his homeland – only signed a new contract recently that ties him to the Storm until 2026.
Should his exile to second grade continue, however, Warrington will hope that he can be convinced to make the move to the UK instead.