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.
NQR
Roar Rookie
Jimmmy don’t you remember them penalising the Cowboys earlier this year because they tackled a player as he lost the ball forward whilst trying to catch it? Tackled whilst not in possession I believe they called it.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
It’s not dangerous because he broke his back, Mitch Moses fractured his back in an Origin game and it was perfectly legal. Just because is injured doesn’t mean it’s foul play.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Players can’t leap into tackles, remember Vunivalu tried that a couple of years ago for Melbourne and got suspended. That in itself is a dangerous practice.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
That’s true. Every club is different, each has its natural strengths and weaknesses, it’s up to each to find what is their strength and maximise the advantage it gives them. The Panthers have their vast juniors nursery, the Broncos & Roosters have their enormous corporate support, the Warriors have direct access to a potentially vast well of genetically ideal RL talent plus an entire nation of support, the Eels have a large junior nursery and are based in the heart of RL heartland etc. Each club just has to identify what it has that no one else has.
NQR
Roar Rookie
TPA’s are usually acquired by clubs through sponsors or wealthy benefactors. Sponsors are usually looking for something in the way of marketing. That comes from FTA games? Now that’s not always fairly split if you compared Broncos to Cowboys or Tigers to Souths. Wealthy benefactors are very persuasive if they are invested in the teams success also. Not all clubs have the massively rich individuals at their disposal unfortunately.
Ian_
Roar Rookie
I'm surprised there isn't a catch all dangerous play rule to cover anything not specifically mentioned in other rules. I also think that what CNK did would be covered by the dangerous throw, even the "behaves in any way contrary to the spirit of the game" rule.
NSWelshman
Roar Rookie
Garrick fractured back but hey not a dangerous tackle according to most people lolol….
NQR
Roar Rookie
I think it falls into dangerous contact unfortunately. Obviously accidental but I really can’t see how you end up not getting penalised for cleaning out a players legs in the air attempting to catch the football.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
He’s broken his back, so it’s one too many.
Drac
Roar Rookie
Hands up who has had a gutful of Panfers tragics switching from poor me to gloat mode and back again in seconds?
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
Look for the incentives . You are spot on . If a player ' leaps ' to attempt to score a try is that a penalty. ? Every team tied or 2 points behind will throw a high pass , the receiver will leap to catch it and then the scores are tied. The NRL is so reactive.
Dutski
Roar Guru
Unintended consequences warning: if the NRL make tackling a player who has jumped into a penalty, there will be a glut of players jumping to take everything in hopes of getting a penalty - leading to more injuries. Seriously how many types of these tackles have we seen in the last 20 years? Ummm. One?
souvalis
Roar Rookie
Dessie's broken the last 2 clubs he's coached at.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
No one is disputing the bouncing ball tackle in the air rule which he wasted 5 mins on. It's exclusively about sufficient care taken by CNK in contorting it into a dangerous contact charge. By the barrage of q's that followed and the far fetched replies he gave, 'players get tackled on their back all the time' and showing players diving into the corner being tackled mid air as equivalent to Garrick being flipped from 8 feet, I doubt a soul in the room bought what he thought. So it boiled down to a matter of opinion, not law, where even referee boss Jared Maxwell and coach Fairleigh were reportably in disagreement and Chairman V'Landys was concerned enough to bring rule reviews into the frame to counter it. It was disappointing from GA because I usually see his points.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
Annersley says(insert something stupid) and backs the indefensible decision made by the clown car of officials.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
So what are you getting at ? You’ve got me confused now.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Didn’t the Titans already break the bank on a forward or two?
Panthers
Roar Rookie
These are all just chats about what CAN be done , or MAY be available to all. All coming from my one comment about how the Storm centre Olam has the most Third Party Deals of any player in the NRL. Even now , as he plays Queensland Cup. None of the replies show even in general terms how these deals are spread? How much the individual deals are worth? How many each player can get? No reply says if any of the other Packages available to players or their families, are available at every club, or just some etc. Just because they MAY be available, IF a club has the money to do them. Doesn’t mean that it’s a level playing field at all. So unless there’s something more ? The Sombrero Clubs exist! It doesn’t have to be against the rules, to keep it under your individual club hats! :laughing:
Nat
Roar Guru
I was waiting for someone to actually know the rules.
Don
Roar Rookie
Exactly. He's a well educated, articulate guy who's hugely popular in PNG. This is exactly how TPAs should work. The sponsors have no affiliation with the club, but they need to be registered and cleared by the NRL. See examples in this link. The guy is the face of about 10 different brands in PNG.