NRL vows to crack down on foul play to protect ball players
NRL boss Todd Greenberg has finally mouthed the words fans have been craving all season, signalling an end to the penalty blitz that has plagued the first half of the NRL season.
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NRL boss Todd Greenberg has finally mouthed the words fans have been craving all season, signalling an end to the penalty blitz that has plagued the first half of the NRL season.
Greenberg has told the referees “don’t over-referee, don’t look for things. Referee what’s in front of you”.
“I wouldn’t say we are going to soften,” Greenberg said. “There has been a tendency for the referees to continue to nitpick.
“So we’ve got to be really careful that we find the balance. We want to see the flow of the game continue.
“There has been a lot of penalties in the first half of the year. I am desperately keen to find that balance.
“I don’t want referees looking for penalties.
“What we want is for referees to police those areas we’ve tasked them to do and allow the game to flow.”
The crackdown has focused on the play the ball and players standing off-side, particularly when defending their tryline. Fox League’s Matty Johns said teams may revert to their old ways if they are not going to be heavily punished.
“It makes you wonder who has won the war?” Johns said. “The coaches have gone ‘let’s just stick at this’. This is a game of nerve. We’re going to see who breaks first. A lot of ways they’ve won.
“I can understand there has been some nitpicking and unnecessary ones but if a player is standing in front of a referee, what do we want them to do?
“It’s going to be interesting to see from Todd’s comments. If I’m a coach he has told the referees in a roundabout way not to blow as many penalties. So I’m saying to my players ‘boys, let’s get out there and lay on them that extra half a second and let’s test the resolve of the refs’.
“They are in a very difficult spot.”
In a dramatic shake-up to the way the game is officiated, Greenberg issued the edict to the whistle blowers while giving them extra powers to sin bin players who commit serious acts of foul play.
In a first for the game, foul play including late tackles, high tackles, dangerous throws and shoulder charges can now be punishable by sin-binning from this round following an endorsement by the Australian Rugby League Commission.
The spate of late hits on key players such as Johnathan Thurston and Nathan Cleary in recent weeks prompted the move to introduce the sin bin for “dog shots” after players had passed or kicked the ball.
Despite being only at the halfway point, 2018 has produced more sin bins than any full season of games since 1999 and is shaping up as the most 10-minute stints since 1995.
There have been 64 sin bins already this year, compared to just 30 for the combined 2015 and 2016 seasons. The new rule will potentially result in a spike which could near the record 147 sin bins in 1995.
Former Kangaroos five-eighth Braith Anasta backed the change.
“It’s been a bad look and very dangerous,” Anasta said. “I used to hate it. I hated it when players would attack you. You can’t protect yourself. The whole idea of these crackdown is to limit injuries.”
Greenberg announced the changes with Australian Rugby League Commissioner Peter Beattie and at the NRL’s Moore Park headquarters.
“No one wants to see players taken out of the game through acts of foul play,” Beattie said.
“Sometimes those acts do not warrant a send off — but they do deserve 10 minutes in the sin bin.
“Until now, the rules did not allow referees to use the sin bin for foul play unless the victim of foul play was forced to leave the field and was unlikely to take any further part of the game.
“So we have seen players commit acts of foul play, put on report but miss no game time.”
The announcement follows Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary being hit late by Canberra forward Charlie Gubb on Friday night.
The rule allows for players to be sin-binned for any foul play including high tackles, dangerous throws, shoulder charges and crusher tackles.
The likes of Johnathan Thurston have been vocal critics of rules around punishing foul play.
Just last week Thurston spoke out on the issue after being floored with a late hit by Manly’s Jack Gosiewski.
Gosiewski was later suspended but didn’t spend any time off the field during their round 13 encounter.
Thurston blew up over the tackle after the game.
“It s.... me — do I have to get a broken rib before they stamp it out,” Thurston said.
“What is it going to take to stop them? It’s not part of our team and the way we go about our business.
“But it has been put on report, so I’m sure the match review committee will deal with it.”
Greenberg backed the new stance referees would take starting in round 15.
“The sin bin could also be used for cheap late shots on playmakers who play such a key role in our game,” he said.
“I stress that the sin bin will only be used for serious incidents and there will be no impact on tough, fair and legal play.”
Meanwhile, the Commission also approved salary cap relief to clubs whose players suffer long-term injuries in representative matches.
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