“He was never going to chase. He was never going to chase. He was never going to chase.”
If I close my eyes and listen hard enough, I can still hear Phil Gould whinging about the ‘no try’ decision in the closing stages of the clash between Parramatta and Manly on Sunday afternoon.
With 16 minutes to go, Tolutau Koula crossed the line in an exciting play that featured Luke Brooks, and a beautiful Tom Trbojevic pass to Koula. The only problem was that the lead runner, Jake Trbojevic had stopped in the defensive line and made contact with Luca Moretti.
Gould’s whinging was tiresome, but his take on the rule was also wrong. The rules are clear. Block runners who do not receive the ball must not stop in the middle of the defensive line. That’s exactly what Jake Trbojevic did.
Moretti may have been slightly lazy, given up on the play and perhaps he was never going to chase, but the same can be said of Jake Trbojevic who just needed to take a couple of extra steps.
It was not a coincidence that Jake Trbojevic stopped in the line.
Anthony Seibold doubled down in his press conference and the focus shifted from discussing one of the best games of the season, to debating a rule which is black and white.
We can’t have it both ways. A couple of years ago the approach to obstruction was discretionary. But we didn’t like that either, because ‘discretion’ varies between referees. So the rule was changed to black and white; some people still aren’t satisfied.
The decision on Sunday was consistent with the current approach to obstruction so I’m not sure what all the whinging, particularly from some of the commentary teams was about.
The media and particularly our commentators have an extremely important role in the promotion of our game and also how fans understand the game.
With the platform that both Channel 9 and Fox Sports have there is endless opportunity to shine a light on positive player stories and big moments in games.
Too often though, we see the media shirk those responsibilities and instead focus on the negative and sometimes the downright wrong. Is it ignorance? Is it to get clicks? I’m not sure, but what I am sure of is that it damages the game and sometimes pushes fans to switch off.
Canterbury general manager Phil Gould. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
A similar thing happens with penalty tries. The commentary always seems to shift to the player being ‘100 per cent guaranteed to score’. That guarantee is impossible to provide. That’s why the rule requires consideration as to whether a try would have been scored if not for the illegal actions of a defender.
Gould’s rant on Sunday is problematic because it will colour how fans understand the rules and drive further discussion and criticism of a ruling that was correct. It also focuses on the negative, rather than some of the more positive results we saw on the weekend.
But with someone like Gould the challenge is even more pronounced because he not only has a role in the media but also at a club as General Manager of Football at the Canterbury Bulldogs.
In life, conflicts exist everywhere. In an industry, like sport, the likelihood of conflicts gets even greater.
This isn’t in itself a problem, because the key to conflicts is how they are managed or perceived to be managed. How well are we managing them in rugby league?
Latrell Mitchell has been in the spotlight recently for many reasons, but he came under fire when it was suggested that he had influenced the judiciary process because of his comments about Spencer Leniu and his racially charged comments about Ezra Mam.
Under the NRL Code of Conduct, club officials and players can be sanctioned if they are too critical of the NRL or if they discuss Match Review Committee charges that are still before the judiciary.
Mitchell was hammered by sections of the media. But we see this sort of discussion on panels, podcasts and in print every single day.
It’s unclear to me how people like Gould can provide commentary on the game and talk about the most important issues of the game, whilst at the same time holding a prominent role at a club.
The same could be said for someone like Braith Anasta, who holds a role as a player agent.
While Abdo met with Gould and his Bulldogs counterparts on this very issue in 2023, it’s still unclear to me how Gould can hold these two roles and still meet the NRL’s Code of Conduct.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
It is , but the coach & players can easily stop such calls against their sides.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
Years ago you would pay attention to who was referee’ng the game…Each Ref had certain Idiosyncrasy….Now days they have all been grafted from Bill Harrigan’s mullet.. I want referees to ref the game and not automatically rule ”change over” when there is a difficult decision on a teams fifth tackle…I don’t want then to be consistently wrong. As much as some find Gould’s demeanor off-putting I find he is a very astute analysis of the game.He knows well what he speaks about.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
If the dummy half takes a step he should be liable and his hand can be played but the refs have the idea that the ball have to leave the ruck before anyone can snaffle an error from the hooker. If the hooker has moved his stance he is open for challenges.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
but that is the very reason the obstruction/shepherd rule was created...you can't have a winger on the other side of the park being blocked from moving sideways even though fifty metres from ball and penalize it...and this is why black and white is madness.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
It may be the letter of the law but as Gould says it is wrong.The rule stems out of the shepherd rule and to make it black and white is just so stupid...The so called obstruction could be 30 metres down field and the rule that is black and white loses the meaning of why the rule was created in the first place and that is if a players is prevented from moving to a location to stop a play. I watched football for 50 years and never saw a penalty try until Harrigan pulled that Ainscough tackle against Smith in the grand final in 1999. A penalty try must be unequivocal about the odds of the player scoring.We see weekly that players knock on or lose control of ball in process of putting ball over line and this is why it was so rare..
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Some don’t see data as ‘facts’. Feeling are facts to some
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
it's not obstruction - when Penriff do it, it IS obstruction when every other team does it
Kent Dorfman
Roar Rookie
Gould loves one thing - the sound of his own voice
steveng
Roar Rookie
Climate temps and conditions are cyclical and El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) affected Australia for 7 years and we came out of that oscillation stage just recently and that is why temps were so high and we had droughts throughout that period, we are out of that El Nino stage now and temps are back to normal and we are getting more rainfall, in my 75 years we've always had cyclical weather and very hot summers and droughts with bush fires droughts Australia etc etc the hot summers are not unusual and/or a drastic in Australia and/or because of climate change that I've notice in my lifetime.
Birdy
Roar Rookie
And accurate records go back 12 years. Data supplied by the weather ologists who said the 23- 24 Sumner was going to be long hit and dry. Also the same weather ologists that haven't been defunded by the ,who ever funds them.
WhoDis
Roar Rookie
And if you’re going to play the age card mate, by the same logic, Joe Biden is Einstein. LOL.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
When you live in it you’ll find out.
WhoDis
Roar Rookie
The climate hasn’t changed..? The 10 hottest years on record have been in the past 10 years. What’s that, random chance?
Birdy
Roar Rookie
And again last night roosters v pennies. Stupid rules must be changed. Nothing changes without being challenged
WhoDis
Roar Rookie
Reality hurts sometimes doesn’t it.
NQR
Roar Rookie
Mate I have serious PTSD issues with the NRL officials. Can’t remember where I leave stuff on a daily basis but the crapy interpretation from NRL officials are hard wired for ever. Why do I have vision of John Buttigieg getting randomly penalised for stopping and standing beside the man playing the ball back in the early 2000. He didn’t move just stopped as he was walking back on side after bringing the ball back from a kick? Was a random a penalty as I’ve ever seen. Bit like Hess not touching the ball with his foot when playing it? Anyway JWH getting whacked by Edwards had me giggling and thinking of Mitch Barnett getting penalised and suspended for whacking a Panthers decoy a couple of years ago. I try to limit my exposure now days.
steveng
Roar Rookie
WhoDis, good on Gould for not arguing about such an irrelevant subject with you, as all you climate change so called b’washed scholars are a waste of time. An old timer like Gould doesn’t believe in all that nonsense of climate change, as the climate hasn’t changed since I have been alive (75 years) but the tremendous cost that climate change has burdened us with has, unfortunately climate change will change people lives and its going to be catastrophic as now its affecting our food production and costs, We are all climate conscious and have always been, no one wants to destroy this planet!
Morz
Roar Rookie
What about the Manu "no try" last night Mary? JWH penalised but did not stop running - he would have kept running to Bondi Beach but the Penrith fullback deadset ran into him, miles from the action, and a great individual try from the Kiwi lad was taken away. I was watching the Fox stream, but if Gus was commendation last night on CH9, he would have RIGHTLY been blowing a gasket.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
The YES YES NO NO NO NO game with Matt Thompson on Six Tackles with Gus. Question Should Gus be commentating on CH 9 whilst being General Manager at the Bulldogs? NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO…….
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
He has been the NSW “ hidden” selector for Brad Fittler during his reign as Blues coach.