The Tackle round 23: Reason Wayne Bennett fired up at one-journo press conference
You had to feel sorry for the lone journo in Perth forced to go toe-to-toe with Wayne Bennett, with everyone left wondering why the super coach was so fired up.
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Paul Crawley reveals his likes and dislikes from blockbuster round of NRL action in the round 23 Tackle.
ROUND 23 DISLIKES
WHAT GOT BENNETT SO ANGRY WITH LONE JOURNO?
You had to feel sorry for the lone journo in Perth forced to go toe-to-toe with super coach Wayne Bennett after the Dolphins’ 30-28 loss to the Knights.
Everyone was left wondering after Bennett’s post match media conference if he was angry at the scrum penalty that went against Herman Ese’ese that cost the Dolphins their last chance at victory?
Or if it was the lack of discipline from his own players that had him so fired up?
The truth is Bennett wasn’t angry at referee Grant Atkins’ blowing his whistle because if Ese’ese didn’t commit the foul, he wouldn’t have been penalised.
And it certainly wasn’t the journo’s fault who had to ask every question but got very little back in return with the press conference done and dusted in two minutes.
So you can then guess who Bennett was most pissed off at after watching the way the Dolphins blew it over the course of 80 minutes.
Not just Ese’ese, but giving up dumb penalties, ruck infringements, simple missed tackles and unforced errors.
One of the things Bennett has always prided himself on as a coach is that his teams play within the rules and rarely beat themselves.
And while the Dolphins have won plenty of admirers for their ability never to surrender in games this year, this again showed they have a lot to learn.
As for the journo, good on him for standing his ground.
We’ve all been through it with Bennett over the years. I’ve certainly learnt not to hold it against him because you know he’ll never change.
All it does for me is show that the super coach is still only human, and on rare occasions emotion even gets the better of him.
TIGERS ROBBED IN DUBIOUS CALL
When will the NRL allow the Bunker to rule on forward pass howlers?
Yet again a shocking call that was obvious to everyone watching on TV has absolutely robbed Wests Tigers in a gutsy and heart-stopping 22-18 loss to Canberra Raiders.
This time a Jack Wighton pass that led to a Sebastian Kris second half try went clearly forward out of Wighton’s hands.
It then bounced further forward but was somehow missed by the touch judge standing within metres of it as Kris raced away to score.
What made it worse was the Tigers would have led soon after when they crossed for a legitimate try.
In fairness to the Raiders, they had their own contentious decision go against them when Luke Brooks looked offside when he scored off an Api Koroisau kick.
That was special from Sebastian Kris, but was the pass forward?
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But that was line-ball.
As Andrew Voss said on Fox League about Wighton’s forward pass: “Well, you’re watching at home … it was thrown forward and bounced even further forward.”
It really is living in the dark ages that the NRL won’t allow the Bunker to use the available multi-million technology.
You certainly don’t need the Bunker adjudicating on every contentious pass.
But surely when a try is involved and it is already being reviewed, it just makes common sense to let the Bunker have its say on what every fan is watching in their lounge room.
As it is, it just leads to more controversy that could be so easily avoided.
LOMAX HEAD SLAM ADDS TO FOUL PLAY FARCE
Just to add more controversy to a round of outrageous inconsistencies surrounding foul play in the NRL.
Now St George Illawarra’s Zac Lomax has sensationally escaped a sin bin for a shocking head slam on Parramatta’s Andrew Davey.
In a two-man tackle, Davey had absolutely no way to protect himself as he had his head bashed backwards into the CommBank Stadium turf in the first half.
But while Davey was then taken from the field for a head injury assessment, Lomax escaped with a penalty.
Fox League’s Warren Smith summed it up perfectly: “I’m sure the Eels fans are saying, ‘Well, if that’s a head slam how isn’t Zac Lomax going to the bin for 10 minutes?’
“I guarantee earlier in the season that would have been a sin bin.”
It’s absolutely disgraceful that he wasn’t here.
The decision not to sin bin Lomax comes on the same weekend Warriors forward Marata Niukore was sin binned for a face rub on Gold Coast’s David Fifita that just shows how embarrassingly out of whack the entire system is.
‘SOFEST SIN BIN EVER’
The decision not to sin bin Lomax came on the same weekend Warriors forward Marata Niukore was sin binned for a face rub on Gold Coast’s David Fifita.
It just shows how embarrassingly out of whack the entire system is.
If anything, it should have been Fifita penalised for being the instigator for what was ultimately a sorry imitation of even a melee.
But surely referee Ben Cummins has been around long enough not to over react like that.
It was the dead-set softest sin bin ever, and in the modern game that is saying something.
But again, the worry is if that is the new benchmark then God help everyone when we get to the big end-of-season games.
LUAI HIGHLIGHTS ‘BLOODY LOTTERY’ OF CRACKDOWN
The NRL has shot itself in the foot again over the farcical lack of consistency when it comes to punishing foul play.
How in the hell does Tom Burgess get sin binned and later charged with a grade two careless high tackle that now has the South Sydney prop facing a minimum three-week ban for his shot on Cronulla’s Tom Hazelton.
Meanwhile, Penrith’s polarising playmaker Jarome Luai wasn’t even penalised for jumping into the tackle and belting Storm giant Nelson Asofa-Solomona directly in the head.
And while the tackle was later put on report (after the Panthers got a set restart), just to run salt into the Storm, Luai then gets a grade one charge and his punishment is a $3000 fine.
It’s just outrageous.
It shouldn’t matter if it is little man on big man, or as Ivan Cleary put it “a little fly against a big giant”.
How is one tackle worthy of three weeks, and the other $3000?
Yet on the same weekend Roosters forward Nathan Brown and Gold Coast’s Moe Fotuaika both get sent off and later charged with the same grade two offence for tackles on Manly’s Ben Trbojevic and Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Kolkstad.
It just infuriates everyone when you see one player escape with a sin bin when two almost identical incidents are send offs, while the other is not even penalised.
Especially when you compare the Brown and Fotuaika tackles to other incidents in previous rounds that were so much worse but only deemed sin bins at the time.
Think back to Reagan Campbell-Gillard’s knees in the back of Gold Coast’s Chris Randall.
Or Martin Taupau recklessly lifting his knees into Rabbitohs centre Campbell Graham.
RCG and Taupau copped four and three week bans respectively.
A week earlier Val Holmes was also sin binned but not sent off for his shot on Titans star Jayden Campbell that later copped a four-match ban.
Tyrone Peachey copped two matches for his shocking swinging arm on Cronulla’s Jack Williams that was a sin bin but later hit with a grade three charge.
It’s just turned into a bloody lottery.
But players, coaches and fans are entitled to be furious, and demand clarification as to what is the new line in the sand:
Do we go back to the Brown and Fotuaika tackles as the new benchmark for a send off, or is the Burgess tackle still a sin bin?
All anyone wants is consistency.
The only consistency over the weekend was madness.
RABBITOHS WAY OFF THE PACE
Just when you thought Latrell Mitchell’s return would ignite the Rabbitohs’ run to the finals, what a letdown that 26-16 loss to the Sharks was.
Aside from the late charge they were so far from their best it was embarrassing when you think they are considered one of the major threats to stopping the Panthers from a premiership three-peat this year.
And you just wonder if it was in fact the long build up over in Perth that left them a little flat going into the match.
I reckon one of the Rabbitohs’ biggest dangers is complacency and when they start getting carried away with their own hype.
It certainly didn’t make for good reading going through the stats with Mitchell finishing with 10 runs for 74m, while Cody Walker only had one run for 4m.
Compare that to Nicho Hynes who finished with 12 runs for 83m and Connor Tracey 16 for 167m.
SCHUSTER GOES MIA AGAIN
Another player who needs to get more involved is Manly’s $800,000-a-season five-eighth Josh Schuster.
With the Sea Eagles’ playing for their survival, Schuster was hardly sighted in the opening 40 minutes.
And by the time he showed us what he was capable of with a couple of clever moments including a try and a try assist, the match was all but gone again.
There is no question Schuster has all the ability in the world, but until he starts applying himself for the full 80 minutes he is never going to reach his potential.
It’s probably a good thing Manly has already locked in Luke Brooks to play No. 6 next season as Daly Cherry-Evans’ halves partner, with Schuster expected to move to the edge backrow.
It certainly makes you wonder if the Sea Eagles will end up getting value for money for the new three-year $2.4m contract Schuster recently agreed to.
LIKES
BRONCOS SHOW THEY’RE NO ONE-MAN BAND
Just as the Panthers have shown they can win without Nathan Cleary, the Broncos’ inspirational victory over the Cowboys well and truly proved they are far from being a one-man band.
With Adam Reynolds injured, the Broncos recorded one of their most impressive wins of the season with Jock Madden and Ezra Mam really aiming up as the new-look halves partnership in Townsville.
Madden has been a young player with plenty of potential going back to the days when he was the Australian Schoolboys captain after coming through the system at Newcastle before joining Wests Tigers.
Mam just goes from strength-to-strength every game, and he showed here how he can also play tough after defending so courageously with a knee injury.
As for Reece Walsh, well, you just never get sick of watching this bloke play. If he’s not the best fullback in the game right now, who is?
Meanwhile, look at the impact of the forwards with five breaking the 100m barrier led by Payne Haas (194), Kurt Capewell (158), Brendan Piakura (150), Pat Carrigan (128) and Keenan Palasia (100).
NRL’S TOUGHEST MAN DOES IT AGAIN
A week after Cronulla’s Cam McInnes claimed the NRL record for most ever tackles in a game (78), the hard-as-nails lock has shown again why he is pound-for-pound the game’s toughest player.
It was just amazing watching McInnes get absolutely steamrolled in Perth by Rabbitohs giant Tom Burgess in a brutal collision.
Yet McInnes not only bounced straight back to his feet, he made the next tackle. Then took a run in the next set for good measure.
What a warrior.
ROOSTERS CAN STILL CAUSE SOME MAJOR DAMAGE
It’s probably too late for the Sydney Roosters to make a run for the playoffs.
But they can certainly win back some respect over the closing four rounds, while potentially knocking two teams out of the finals race including last year’s grand finalists Parramatta and their sworn enemies South Sydney.
Following their 26-16 win over the Sea Eagles, they face the Dolphins on Saturday followed by the Eels, Tigers and Rabbitohs in the final round.
As disappointing as the season has been, imagine the build-up if it gets to the final round and they have the chance to also knock the Rabbitohs out of the playoffs.
It’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility.
PONGA READY TO CARRY KNIGHTS INTO SEPTEMBER
Every year there is a team that jumps out of the ground in the race to September.
And while most of us thought it was going to be the Cowboys this year, the Kalyn Ponga inspired Knights are shaping up as the team that now has everyone nervous.
It’s just breathtaking watching Ponga at the moment play with such confidence and how it is lifting everyone around him.
The Knights are now seventh on 27 competition points with remaining games against the Bulldogs, Rabbitohs, Sharks and Dragons – and all are home games at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Even allowing for a loss, it is hard to see them getting knocked out of the eight from here.
What a brave fightback it has been from the lot of them, but especially a player who has had such serious worries with concussion injuries and even conceded at one point he was contemplating retirement.
STORM ‘SEND OFF’ BEST CALL OF ROUND
With all the outrage over send offs and sin bins, the best call of the weekend came from referee Adam Gee when he marched Storm trainer Ryan Hinchcliffe during the Panthers’ dominant 26-6 win.
Gee stopped the match after reportedly copping a few words from the former Storm forward.
“Get off, I won’t cop it. Get off,” Gee fired.
It’s one of the pet hates of many fans seeing the trainers out on the field loitering for too long.
As for the Panthers’ performance, what a warning that was to the rest of the comp against a side many expect to be one of the biggest dangers, with Nathan Cleary again the standout.
It’s scary how good the Panthers look at the moment.
JOHNSON’S BIGGEST THREAT IN DALLY M RACE
If the Rugby League Players Association go through with their Dally M Medal boycott threat, the big loser might be Shaun Johnson.
While it probably wasn’t the Warriors’ best performance on the weekend on the Gold Coast, yet again they got the job done in the 28-18 win over the 12-man Titans.
And it was again Johnson who stood up when his team needed him.
The veteran halfback finished with six runs for 58m that included two tries and two try assists along with two line breaks and a line break assist. How will he get beat for the Dally M this year? Right now you’d put the RLPA down as his biggest threat.
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