NRL Tackle round 2: Latrell Mitchell wanted by Andrew Abdo following r-rated radio rant, Nicho Hynes leads Dally M
A familiar face sits atop the Dally M race early in the season, though a couple of his teammates might feel hard-done by. Read round 2 likes and dislikes from DEAN RITCHIE in The Tackle.
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Dean Ritchie is back once again to dive into the highs and lows of round 2 of the NRL.
DISLIKES
NO SANCTION FOR LATRELL BUT ABDO WANTS TO TALK
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo is seeking an urgent meeting with Latrell Mitchell to discuss the South Sydney’s star expletive-laden radio interview last Thursday night.
It comes as NRL fans demand Mitchell be fined for dropping the F-bomb five times in a 30 second post-match, on-field chat with Triple M.
Mitchell will avoid an NRL breach notice and any sanction but Abdo still wants to talk with Mitchell about the game’s behavioural expectations and standards. The NRL desperately wants and needs Mitchell to be a role model.
Abdo has contacted Souths CEO Blake Solly to try and arrange a meeting with Mitchell this week.
Mitchell’s decision to speak publicly about the Spencer Leniu racism row – before last week’s judiciary hearing was held – has also been questioned.
Triple M was forced to cut short the interview.
No doubt Mitchell was emotion-charged after the loss to Brisbane, with most fans generally accepting of a player dropping the odd swear word just moments after a game.
But five F-bombs in 30 seconds has alarm bells ringing at the NRL.
“F …, I don’t care if I’m swearing, honestly,” Mitchell said.
Veteran radio broadcaster Peter Peters supported Mitchell, telling the Big Sports Breakfast Weekend radio show: “Players after a game, with a microphone shoved under their nose, are likely to say anything.
“Latrell can do better, he’s better than that, but if we want live interviews we’re going to have to accept these things happening. We have to take the good with the bad.”
An online Daily Telegraph poll asked respondents whether Mitchell should be fined, cleared and let off with a warning.
More than 80 per cent wanted him fined $5000.
“I was up in the box for that one, it just felt totally unnecessary to me,” said Triple M’s former Panthers grand final centre Ryan Girdler. “You don’t need to go on three or four times to make a point of swearing.
“I was thinking at the time, like if my two little girls were in the car … it puts parents in an uncomfortable position. Even if you do it once you apologise because you can get caught up in the moment.”
LUAI’S DOUBLE ESCAPE
Fans went nuclear over the NRL’s match review committee’s decision to allow Penrith’s Jarome Luai to play Thursday night’s grand final replay against Thursday, despite being charged twice.
Luai was hit with a grade one contrary conduct charge for tripping Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses and a grade one careless high tackle charge for a hit which concussed Bailey Simonsson.
Both incidents will cost Luai a combined total of $3600 but he avoided suspension, despite Simonsson failing an HIA test which will rule him out of Sunday’s big match against Manly.
Luai and the match review committee drew immediate condemnation from fans, with one labelling the hit on Simonsson a “dog shot.”
Another wrote: “I remember when a trip was a send-off.”
And this: “He tripped a play, blatantly and nothing but a mere fine.”
Here’s more: “Injured player out for 11 days yet culprit is free to play.”
And: “Simonsson isn’t playing cause of his dog shot so he shouldn’t be playing either.”
THERE’S ONLY ONE REF, LEAVE IT THAT WAY
Players telling referees to put opponents in the sin bin is irritating and intimidating.
We saw it again with Broncos’ Adam Reynolds and Jordan Riki on Thursday night.
It’s not soccer fellas, back off and show some respect to the ref who had the situation under control and gave Damien Cook a spell for slowing the ruck down.
MORE MILKING
No doubt Broncos front-rower Payne Haas milked a penalty when running into Souths forward Sean Keppie, who was protecting kicker Lachlan Ilias, on Thursday night.
Keppie blew up at referee Gerard Sutton, claiming Haas – from marker – deliberately collided with him.
There’s trouble brewing if these penalties continue. Any player attempting to get at the kicker could directly into a defending player and milk a penalty.
Haas played for a penalty – and got it. A penalty against the team in possession – which happened in this incident – has incredible consequences regarding a game’s momentum.
“The practice of blockers obstructing defenders has been a growing issue in the NRL over recent seasons. We have worked hard with all clubs in the pre-season and their training sessions to eliminate the practice,” said NRL head of football, Graham Annesley.
“We have been very public about it and regularly communicated with clubs to clarify expectations.”
MASON MOUTHS OFF
The emergence of podcasts as an alternate media platform have been embraced somewhat by the public – but it’s also seen the level of foul language in the game increase alarmingly.
And that cannot be endorsed, nor encouraged.
Big Willie Mason had a shot me during his podcast over a story I wrote about Benji Marshall.
Mason is allowed his opinion, he earned that right over 292 NRL games. His condemnation didn’t bother me – Mason has always been a critic of the media – but was his swearing publicly really necessary?
“He (Marshall) hasn’t f … ing coached one game yet. Dean Ritchie, shut the f … up. You’ve never coached before, you’re sitting on the outside trying to judge this one person about his coaching methodology,” Mason roared.
I’m not quite sure why Willie thinks other people in rugby league don’t have the right to offer an opinion. It’s called free speech, big fella.
FACIAL FARCE STAINS CLEAN SKIN'S RECORD
What a facial farce. What the hell got into Dylan Edwards last Friday night?
Usually a respectable cleanskin, Edwards decided to give Eels opponent Bryce Cartwright a grubby facial after play stopped for a changeover. No penalty was issued but Edwards should have been sin-binned.
Edwards wanted the ball off Cartwright, who wouldn’t volunteer it momentarily. That’s when Edwards had his brain fart.
Parramatta hooker Joey Lussick rushed in and gave Edwards a shove for his actions and a melee unfolded.
Eels teammate J’maine Hopgood mimicked Edwards, giving Panther Liam Henry a good old fashioned facial. Hopgood should also have spent ten minutes in the sin bin.
Neither were charged by the NRL match committee.
Newcastle’s Kai Pearce-Paul gave Cowboys forward Jeremiah Nanai a facial in Saturday night’s match.
Let’s cut out the cheap shots, men.
BULLDOGS’ WOES GROW
When you’re losing, it feels like the whole world is against you.
Bulldogs forward Viliame Kikau was denied a try on Friday night when referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski appeared to impede Sharks defender Braydon Trindall.
It was somehow deemed Trindall – 15cms smaller and 26 kgs lighter – would have stopped Kikau. Please. Where has common sense gone in rugby league?
Canterbury skipper Stephen Crichton said: “I reckon if he (the referee) wasn’t there he (Kikau) probably would’ve scored anyway, big ‘Kiks’ on someone 20 kilos lighter than him.”
TIGERS CAUGHT NAPPING
This was an “embarrassing” moment for young Wests Tigers five-eighth Jayden Sullivan. It isn’t often we see a try from a penalty tap restart but Canberra caught Wests Tigers asleep.
A daydreaming Sullivan was caught short down the short side as Canberra’s Jordan Rapana took the tap restart and sent Xavier Savage straight past the Tigers halfback to score untouched.
“It was embarrassing – it was embarrassing for Sullivan who completely clocked off his duties,” said Fox Sports’ analyst Corey Parker. “It was park footy stuff.”
Fox’s Steve Roach added: “That’s attention to detail.”
Head caller Andrew Voss said: “Oh no, the Tigers defence has been absolutely embarrassed. The lights may have been on but, I’m telling you, there was no-one home. The Tigers bundied off on the short side. They are looking at each other now saying: ‘What just happened?’”
LIKES
STORM WINGER’S TRY BEST OF ALL TIME
Xavier Coates scored the greatest solo try from a winger that I have seen in 35 years of sports journalism.
It was a moment that will be captured in highlight reels for the next 20 years.
The leap, height and subsequent try seem even more remarkable in slow motion, his entire body airborne and outside the field of play.
Veteran rugby league journalist Ray Chesterton sent me a text message moments after Coates scored.
“Best individual try I’ve ever seen,” he wrote.
Michael Ennis: “That’s the best try I’ve ever seen. That is absolutely ridiculous.”
Even country musician Troy Cassar-Daley joined in: “Holy s…, amazing stuff.”
Melbourne Storm’s social media team exclaimed: “TRY OF THE CENTURY.”
Fox Sports commentator Andrew Voss led a charge to have the corner flag removed, allowing for today’s spectacular tries.
The rule change, implemented in 2010, stated if a player made contact with the corner post then he or she would no longer be considered to be touch in-goal.
“It was a 10-year campaign,” Voss said. “I felt like I was boring people but I just thought it was ridiculous that we still abided by a rule made in 1908.
“I can only wonder how many tries someone like Ken Irvine would have scored had he played under this new rule.”
NRL head of football Graham Annesley added: “There’s an old adage, ‘Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan’, so I’m not going to buy into any arguments about whose idea it was to amend the corner post rule.
“The only thing I can confirm is I was the Operations Manager at the NRL when we made the change.”
SCRUM PLAY DELIGHT
Were my eyes playing tricks? Did I really see a scrum won against the feed?
Yep, Thursday night, Brisbane’s Billy Walters ‘out-hooked’ Souths’ Damien Cook to win possession against the feed.
It is a rare phenomenon these days and must have whacked 10 years on Souths coach Jason Demetriou.
“We can’t feed the scrum properly,” Demetriou lamented.
Old Max Krilich would have been chuffed.
JWH MILESTONE DESERVES THE BEST
I reckon Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is just about my favourite player. Fearsome, aggressive and old school, they don’t make ’em like JWH anymore.
Waerea-Hargraves will pass a remarkable milestone against Souths this Friday night – 300 NRL games. And all played in the right and tumble, middle.
But please Jaz, keep that aggro to a minimum.
It will be a proud night, emotions will run high and you know you’ll be baited by Souths.
We all hope Waerea-Hargreaves celebrates his landmark game in grand style – as he should – and not in trouble again with those pesky refs.
Shark leads Dally M
There have been some interesting Dally M points given out in the first couple of rounds of the season.
Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes now leads the pack on 12 points.
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