Cheap shots threaten the future of rugby league says a furious Peter V’landys

Cheap shots and weak refereeing have stolen all the headlines this weekend and ARLC Chairman Peter V’landys has had enough.

Peter V'landys has spoken of his fears that parents will be put off rugby league.

Sydney Roosters player Drew Hutchison lay in bed in the trauma unit at Westmead Hospital yesterday as the severe repercussions of blundering match officials smashed the NRL’s image.

Long-time player agent David Riolo described the knees-to-the-back incident that broke Hutchison’s ribs, punctured his lungs and put him into the back of an ambulance at Bankwest Stadium on Friday night as ”cowardly”.

“That will do me,” Riolo said. “I’ve been a lifelong rugby league person. It was disgusting.

“If they keep this up, we’ll have no one playing the game because of injuries.

“It’s too dangerous if they’re not going to take proper action to stop it.”

Drew Hutchison of the Roosters was left writhing after Dylan Brown kneed him in the back Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Independent commission chairman Peter V’landys spoke of his anger and frustration over the incident in that match officials had failed to send off or at least sin bin Parramatta five-eighth Dylan Brown.

Bizarrely, Brown was put on report 20 minutes later.

“You can spend millions of dollars trying to encourage participation, but incidents like Friday night that are not acted on at the elite level puts that money to waste,” V’landys said.

“It has an effect on mums out there not wanting their kids to play.”

V’landys took personal responsibility for the failure of senior bunker official Steve Chiddy and referee Matt Cecchin to act on it appropriately.

Peter V'landys wants the bunker and his refereeing officials to do better.

As a result, Chiddy has been stood down from the bunker for the remainder of round nine.

The NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley and chief executive Andrew Abdo had emergency talks late on Friday night after the game before standing down Chiddy, who was in charge for last year’s grand final.

A furious V’landys had called for stronger action against foul play just days before the game.

“We’ve let the fans and the players down,” V’landys said. “I feel I’ve let them down.

“The commission put out an edict on foul play last week but it was not adhered to.

“It’s disappointing because the referees have been doing a terrific job this year.

“Maybe it’s my fault and we need to implement our directives better. With the technology available in the bunker, we need to do much better.”

James Tedesco complains to referee Matt Cecchin during the game against the Eels. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Hutchison will be in hospital for another four days and faces an indefinite period on the sidelines, adding to what was already the worst injury toll in NRL history.

Riolo added: “I felt sick watching it. How did they miss it with all the replays in TV?

“Is it really okay to slide in with a knee in the back to an unprotected player?

“It was cowardly and he should have been sent off. Is that the message we’re sending our children?”

In another shocking incident that happened only seconds earlier, Roosters superstar James Tedesco miraculously escaped another concussion when he was shoulder charged in the face.

“He’s our best player in the game,” Riolo said. “He’s unprotected and he gets hit with a shoulder after just coming back from a head injury.

“We’ve got to protect these guys. The referee’s job is to officiate the game but it’s also to protect the players from foul play.”

An Roosters chairman Nick Politis spoke to both Abdo and V’landys on Saturday morning.

“We’ve got to do better to protect the players, not just our players but right across the entire game,” Politis said.

“We’ve got Drew in hospital and his health and recovery is more important than anything else, but we feel like the system let us down.”