‘Four or five decisions that didn’t meet the expected standard’: Refs in firing line as fallout from Carrigan tackle continues
Fans will be given new insight into what constitutes a hip-drop tackle, with the NRL set to release a graphic video.
NRL
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The NRL is set to release a video to clubs, fans and the media in the coming days to explain the key points of hip-drop tackles in a bid to clear up confusion once and for all after it conceded Broncos star Patrick Carrigan was the victim of an incorrect decision which saw him sent to the sin bin last week.
That was one of several mistakes by referee Todd Smith and bunker official Gerard Sutton in the match between the Storm and the Broncos, with head of football Graham Annesley refusing to guarantee they’ll keep their jobs for Round 12.
Last Thursday’s match featured several baffling decisions which started early when Reece Walsh was cleared by the bunker of a shoulder charge on Justin Olam, only for the Broncos fullback to then be cited by the match review committee.
It continued with Carrigan’s sin bin, a controversial try to Cory Paix, which Annesley said should have been a penalty to Brisbane, and an early whistle which denied Xavier Coates a stunning long-range try after the ball bounced off Olam’s head.
Annesley was happy with the decision to award Herbie Farnworth a penalty try due to some interference from Harry Grant, but he disagreed with the bunker’s call to sin bin Carrigan for a hip-drop tackle on Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
That tackle is part of a video which runs for more than three minutes and which breaks down the criteria of what constitutes a hip-drop tackle, with recent examples of legal and illegal techniques, finishing with Carrigan’s tackle – which did not breach the rules.
“I’m frustrated when errors are made,” Annesley said of the Carrigan sin bin.
“I don’t believe it’s because of any sort of misunderstanding, because we’ve spent a lot of time with both referees and the match review committee on what is a hip drop and what is not, so I’m frustrated when there are errors made.
“These are errors that are unacceptable and we don’t want to see them happen, but no one is trying to make errors.”
Annesley said there were elements of a hip-drop tackle in that particular case, but that Carrigan hadn’t landed on the back of the Storm star’s legs.
Carrigan was furious with the decision, and Annesley hopes bunker officials take extra time to check all available angles before rushing into big calls like this one.
“I’d rather they got the decision right,” said Annesley, insisting there has been no directive from the NRL towards referees in regards to how to penalise the tackle.
“Clearly they do have time constraints, so they can’t sit there for 10 minutes pulling it apart because we have to get on with the game. But we also don’t want them to make rushed decisions without all the available evidence.”
The NRL stands by its decision to have handed such a big game to an inexperienced referee like Smith, but it’s unclear whether he’ll be a given a match this week after Annesley said there were “four or five decisions that didn’t meet the expected standard”.
“Todd Smith has been one of our real shining lights over the last 12-18 months,” Annesley said of Smith, who was let down by several bad calls from the bunker.
“He doesn’t have a lot of games under his belt in the NRL, but he’s been very, very strong in the games that he has refereed, and this isn’t the first big game that he’s refereed.
“He’s had a number of high-profile games since he’s been in the NRL, and he’s performed extremely well.
“A lot of these decisions also included the input of the bunker, so we can’t forget that.
“They are a team of officials, and the responsibility of all of those officials is to try to get these big decisions right. In this case, we’ve got a number of them that we believe were incorrect.
“Unfortunately that’s taken place, and now we have to review the performance of everybody concerned.”
Annesley also said referee Chris Butler made the right call to sin bin a Dragons player against the Cowboys, but that it should have been Tyrell Sloan and not Jayden Sullivan.
He also explained the Dragons were unable to challenge the decision because two players had flopped in and deliberately held the ball-carrier down in a bid to contest the ruling, which is against the rules.
Originally published as ‘Four or five decisions that didn’t meet the expected standard’: Refs in firing line as fallout from Carrigan tackle continues
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