NRL Referee’s tongue-slip exposes complete rule farce

Phil Gould was fuming, but his response was nothing compared to the words that came out of NRL referee Grant Atkins’ mouth.

Grant Atkins put his foot in it.

NRL guru Phil Gould was scathing, but his response was nothing compared to the words that came out of referee Grant Atkins’ mouth on Thursday night.

Atkins was forced to penalise the Broncos during their emphatic 32-12 win over the Rabbitohs when South Sydney were allowed to get away with a sloppy play-the-ball.

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Broncos centre Herbie Farnworth was penalised for diving on a loose ball from the marker position, despite no Rabbitohs player standing at dummy-half when Keaon Koloamatangi rolled the ball under him.

Atkins penalised the Broncos under the letter of the law — but his comments in explaining his decision to the Broncos exposed a complete rule farce.

Grant Atkins put his foot in it.

“You can’t do that mate,” Atkins said to Farnworth.

“The ball is in the game so you can’t just dive in behind the ruck. He has got to try and pick it up and run.”

He pulled out half way through in the middle of a tongue slip.

“He dived straight on the ball. I know it is a stu...,” he said before finishing the final word.

“It is just the laws of the game. You can’t dive on a loose ball in there.”

Herbie Farnworth dives for the loose ball.

Gould was also critical of the strict nature of the rule.

“He wanted to say it’s a stupid rule — and it is a stupid rule,” Gould said in commentary for Channel 9.

“They’ve got no dummy half, he runs around and dives on the ball. (Atkins) says you’ve got to pick it up and run, you can’t dive on it.

“Is that not the most stupid rule you’ve ever heard?

“The referee almost said ‘it is a stupid rule’, he had to stop himself halfway through, or else he will get fined.”

Fox League’s Warren Smith said: “You heard Grant Atkins about to say, I know it is a stupid rule.

“And he caught himself and said, you can’t just dive on the ball there, even though it is sitting there.

“But he did stop himself from saying, I know it is a stupid rule.”

It didn’t overshadow the Broncos’ big win as Adam Reynolds showed his former club how much they are missing him.

Originally published as NRL Referee’s tongue-slip exposes complete rule farce