The case for an against Billy Slater being banned for the NRL grand final
SHOULD Billy Slater miss the NRL grand final as an example that even the best make mistakes — or is the potential ban for a shoulder charge just an over-reaction? VOTE NOW!
Opinion
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SHOULD Billy Slater miss the NRL grand final as an example that even the best make mistakes — or is the potential ban for a shoulder charge just an over-reaction?
BILLY SHOULDN’T GET OFF
Billy Slater has done so many wonderful things for rugby league. But none would have an impact, quite like this.
When Slater is rubbed out of Sunday’s grand final for his illegal shoulder charge, which he should be, the veteran fullback has a choice.
He can wallow in self-pity.
Or he can cement his legacy. Slater’s suspension won’t ruin the grand final.
It will make it.
Because if he wants too, Slater can show every junior league player and all those overemotional sideline coach’s the end-result of a shoulder charge.
A champion for every little boy and girl down the local park, Slater can use his contract with Channel 9, to appear on national TV and say: “Yep, I’m gutted to be missing a grand final — but kids, remember me, remember this moment, when you think about doing a shoulder charge.
“It’s not worth it.’’
That’s a legacy of far greater significance than a matchwinning try or blistering run.
The NRL match review committee have stood-up and rightly charged Slater for his shoulder charge on Cronulla’s Sosaia Feki, after a season where all we’ve ever demanded, is consistency.
Inconsistency would’ve meant Slater escaped a charge.
The argument of ‘what else was Slater supposed to do’ — is flawed. That something else Slater was supposed to do is not shoulder charge.
So too is the flimsy argument that Feki wasn’t injured, so play-on.
On that basis, the NRL should therefore allow players to shoulder charge, but just not to the point of harming anyone.
Good luck, policing that.
Billy Slater will always be remembered as a champion in the eyes of many.
Yet he will be a champion to all if he uses his grand final omission as a painful and public example of why no player would ever risk attempting a shoulder charge again.
— David Riccio
DON’T BAN SLATER FOR THIS
The window to punish Billy Slater for his shoulder charge has passed, and the match review panel must see the fairness in letting the future immortal play the grand final.
No, not because he’s Billy Slater, not because he plays for the Storm and not because it’s a GF and a fairytale: but because it wasn’t that bad a tackle.
Slater should have been sin-binned for his shoulder charge hit on Cronulla winger Sosaia Feki, no doubt.
An illegal tackle to stop a try is surely an automatic professional foul, and the Sharks were stitched up on Friday night by the referee.
But making up for that by banning him for a match is not a fair square-up.
Not every high tackle attracts a charge, and nor should a mild shoulder charge equate to a ban.
Slater led with his hand and hit Feki with the back of his shoulder. The contact was to Feki’s chest and nowhere near his head. Feki got up unconcerned.
It wasn’t dangerous. In fact, according to Phil Gould, it was the safest possible way Slater could have made contact with two bodies flying at each other in the corner.
If it’s contact to the head, throw the book at him. But if it’s not dangerous or reckless, surely a penalty and sin bin would have been warning enough?
The game has lost the plot if every shoulder charge carries a mandatory ban yet lifting tackles remain a lottery and crusher tackles still happen every week.
The NRL’s bid to eradicate the shoulder charge has worked, but rule makers have painted themselves into a corner.
Not everything can be black and white.
If Slater is rubbed out for this shoulder charge, then it means any illegal action on the field that brings about a penalty should also prompt a charge.
Some will see this as karma for Slater who has led with the feet dangerously in previous big games and gotten away with it.
But there’s no such thing as double jeopardy in rugby league.
The match review committee has the power to do the right thing and shouldn’t be swayed by anti-Storm and anti-Slater sentiment.
— Ben Horne
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