The Tackle: NRL under fire for sin-bin, send-off inconsistences over Will Kennedy, Daniel Tupou tackles
NRL fans and experts alike are up in arms about what consitutes a sin bin and a send-off. But if you think the Jesse Ramien should’ve been marched, be careful what you wish for, writes PAUL CRAWLEY.
NRL
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
PAUL CRAWLEY reveals his LIKES and DISLIKES from Round 9 of the NRL season - plus the latest Dally M voting and leaderboard.
Watch every game of Magic Round this weekend Live & Ad-Break Free In Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >
DISLIKES
NRL BEING TORN APART BY INCONSISTENCIES
There is so much confusion over what constitutes a send off and a sin bin in the NRL at the moment that even when you think the officials get it right it still divides the game.
Most fans seem to agree that Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy’s classic ‘coat hanger’ on the Warriors’ Reece Walsh on Sunday was an automatic send off.
Kennedy is now facing a two-match ban if he takes the early guilty plea after being charged with a grade three careless high tackle.
Yet a sore point for St George Illawarra fans would be that a few weeks back Sydney Roosters winger Daniel Tupou was not even sin binned and escaped with a one-match ban for his high shot on Mikaele Ravalawa.
Further to that, there is also a massive split among experts and fans over Jesse Ramien’s careless high shot on Euan Aitken that only resulted in a sin bin.
Former international Laurie Daley led the charge on Monday that Ramien’s tackle was more worthy of a send off than Kennedy’s coat hanger, because Ramien “made direct contact with his shoulder”.
But Daley believes Ramien may have escaped the more severe punishment because Kennedy had already been marched earlier in the match.
Adding weight to that theory is the fact the match review committee has also hit Ramien with a grade three careless high tackle charge (the same as Kennedy), although Ramien is facing a three-match ban if he takes the early guilty plea because this is his second offence.
But where the NRL has got itself in a mess is that this mass confusion seems to spread across the entire game at the moment.
And it doesn’t just relate to send offs and sin bins but everything from obstruction calls to play-the-ball and ruck penalties, forward passes, you name it.
It is hard to remember a time in the game’s more recent history where there has been so much uncertainty relating to inconsistencies on so many levels, and fans and experts are understandably growing frustrated by it.
But those saying the Ramien tackle was worthy of a send off should be mindful.
If the NRL starts sending off players for careless high tackles there is a real chance that we could regularly end up with multiple dismissals that would cause even greater anger and frustration among fans.
CODY’S HOT TEMPER NEEDS COOLING DOWN
Jason Demetriou needs to sit Cody Walker down and show him the replay of his ridiculous over-reaction to the kick pressure tackle from Brisbane’s Billy Walters.
And the South Sydney coach should explain to his star five-eighth that it sets a terrible example for everyone in the team.
Fair enough, Walters was in the wrong and it was probably worthy of a penalty.
But to carry on like Cody did over such an innocuous incident was just silly.
He also needs to remind himself that he’s 32 and a leader at the club and in the game.
Yet he did a similar thing earlier in the year when he had a run in with Jaydn Su’A in the Charity Shield that just shows he’s not going to change.
Make no mistake, players will continue to bait him and at some point it will cost Souths in a big game.
It was only days ago Walker was cleared of allegedly having a wrestle with family members outside a pub in the early hours of the morning that caught the attention of police.
In that instance it might have well been a case of boys being boys.
But certainly on the field it’s time he showed more restraint and maturity.
HOW DID REFS MISS KIKAU’S KNOCK-ON?
How officials missed Viliame Kikau’s glaring knock on in the lead up to a crucial Penrith try just before halftime will go down as one of this season’s worst clangers.
Honestly, in a billion dollar sport where there are officials watching from everywhere imaginable, they somehow still let this one go through to the keeper.
Thankfully it didn’t decide the game and Parramatta got the result they thoroughly deserved.
But again, how that does not get picked up when there is a referee, two touch judges and a bunker is laughable.
BUNKER CHAOS RUINING RUGBY LEAGUE
Magic Round last year was ruined because of the embarrassing crackdown on high shots.
Let’s hope more controversial officiating doesn’t spoil it for the players and fans this year.
But the NRL owes it to everyone involved in the game to do something immediately to fix the mess that is the bunker.
A week after the farcical call that robbed the Canberra Raiders when the Warriors’ Matt Lodge was awarded a match-defining penalty for taking a blatant dive, the bunker has got another one horribly wrong with a ‘no try’ call against North Queensland’s Jason Taumalolo on Saturday night.
In case you missed it, this time the bunker ruled an obstruction against young Cowboys backrower Jeremiah Nanai on Newcastle’s Lachlan Fitzgibbon.
But as Michael Ennis fumed in Fox League commentary, it was clearly Fitzgibbon who made the defensive read to go in on Nanai, so the try to Taumalolo should have been awarded.
Every educated fan watching the game would have agreed with Ennis’ judgment.
So how on earth the bunker determined otherwise is mind boggling.
But you can’t blame it on human error because they watched it over and over before coming up with their decision.
According to the bunker, this is what constitutes an obstruction in today’s game.
Seriously, if that is what they think they have lost the plot.
And to take it a step further, if that call was to decide the grand final rematch between Penrith and Melbourne this week at Magic Round there would be hell to pay.
This is exactly what is driving everyone crazy at the moment. The fact that the bunker is not only being overused, but is clearly on a different page to the rest of us.
And that is what the NRL has to fix. Not come up with another excuse why they stuffed it up again.
KNIGHTS IN A WORLD OF HURT
The Newcastle Knights are now in their longest losing streak since 2017 with seven straight losses, and six of those have been by 18 points or more.
Who would have thought a team that started the season with legitimate ambitions of challenging for the top four would be playing the Bulldogs in round 10 with last spot on the ladder more than likely on the line?
There’s no question they have had a rotten run with injuries this year, and it only got worse this week losing Jack Johns to a suspected broken arm.
But surely anyone who gets to play at NRL level, regardless of who is missing, should know how to tackle.
Yet some of their defensive efforts in recent weeks have shown where their attitude is at.
If it wasn’t for Kalyn Ponga, who was terrific, the Cowboys would have embarrassed them by a bigger scoreline.
Adam O’Brien said after the game that they could get back as many as six players for the Bulldogs so there should be no more excuses.
TITANS’ SEASON GOES BELLY UP
It’s starting to sound like a broken record talking about the Titans every week.
That capitulation against the Roosters was their fifth straight defeat, and they’ve won only three of their past 14 games.
Incredibly, they had 55 per cent of first half possession on Saturday, and in fact had the majority of the ball for most of the match.
But the margin still blew out to 28 points.
Most alarming was how they went backwards when Lindsay Collins was sent to the sin bin, while in that period the Roosters went to another gear.
TIGERS SIN BIN THE RIGHT CALL
One call the officials did get right was sending big Stefano Utoikamanu to the sin bin in Wests Tigers’ loss to Manly.
It came after a set restart had been awarded and the Tigers prop laid on Daly Cherry-Evans to slow down the play, with the Sea Eagles only 20m out and on the attack.
At that point the penalty count was already 6-2 against the Tigers, who had also coughed up four set restarts.
While some thought it was a tough call, Utoikamanu pretty much left the ref with no alternative given how obvious he was about trying to slow down the ruck.
The simple solution is don’t blatantly break the rules.
DALLY M VOTING
RABBITOHS v BRISBANE
Judge: Tim Mannah
3 – Adam Reynolds (BRI)
2 – Pat Carrigan (BRI)
1 – Corey Oates (BRI)
RAIDERS v BULLDOGS
Judge: Nathan Hindmarsh
3 – Matt Burton (BUL)
2 – Adam Elliott (CBR)
1 – Matt Frawley (CBR)
PANTHERS v EELS
Judge: Wally Lewis
3 – Junior Paulo (PAR)
2 – Clint Gutherson (PAR)
1 – Isaah Yeo (PEN)
SEA EAGLES v WESTS TIGERS
Judge: Wendell Sailor
3 – Daly Cherry-Evans (MAN)
2 – Ben Trbojevic (MAN)
1 – Lachlan Croker (MAN)
ROOSTERS v TITANS
Judge: Chris Heighington
3 – James Tedesco (SYD)
2 – Luke Keary (SYD)
1 – Joseph Sua’lii (SYD)
COWBOYS v KNIGHTS
Judge: Roy Masters
3 – Chad Townsend (COW)
2 – Kalyn Ponga (NEW)
1 – Jeremiah Nanai (COW)
STORM v DRAGONS
Judge: Scott Sattler
3 – Harry Grant (MEL)
2 – Cameron Munster (MEL)
1 – Nelson Asofa-Solomona (MEL)
SHARKS v WARRIORS
Judge: Gary Belcher
3 – Nicho Hynes (CRO)
2 – Teig Wilton (CRO)
1 – Cameron McInnes (CRO)
ROUND 9 LEADERBOARD
15 – R. Papenhuyzen
14 – I. Yeo
13 - B. Hunt, N. Hynes, D. Cherry-Evans
12 – M. Moses
10 – J. Tedesco
9 – D. Edwards, S. Talakai, H. Grant, C. Munster, J. Hughes, S. Walker
LIKES
DOGS DISCARD NOW A STORM SENSATION
Nick Meaney has basically traded places with Josh Addo-Carr this year.
But while he would be on a significantly smaller salary than the Bulldogs’ star recruit, you get the feeling Meaney would have no complaints about taking the Foxx’s spot on the left wing at the Storm.
The way Meaney is playing at the moment, Freddy Fittler could even throw him on the wing for the Blues and the former Bulldog wouldn’t look out of place, crossing for six tries so far this year including another scintillating runaway effort in the big win over the Dragons.
It’s just another great example how Craig Bellamy has a knack of finding a bargain buy from what’s been discarded in the rubbish bin at other clubs.
To make it even better Meaney gets to now play in the top of the table blockbuster against Penrith at Magic Round, instead of the battle for the wooden spoon clash between Addo-Carr’s Bulldogs and the Knights.
EELS BLAST THEIR WAY INTO PREMIERSHIP DEBATE
Parramatta, take a bow.
That was some game of footy. And so much for there being only two teams who can win the comp.
The Eels have now well and truly blown that theory out of the park.
They’ve beaten Melbourne on the Storm’s home turf and the premiers in their back yard.
And given the hype surrounding the battle of the west build up, Brad Arthur even told his players after the game “this is the proudest I have been” in his nine years at the club.
That says it all.
Meanwhile, after all the controversy surrounding Dylan Brown’s move to centres and back to five-eighth, Brown showed why he belongs in the No. 6 jumper.
DON’T BOO REYNO, BOO THOSE WHO LET HIM GO
Souths fans who booed Adam Reynolds on Friday night should give themselves an uppercut.
If you want to boo somebody, boo the bean counters at the club who let the champion halfback go.
It’s seriously shaping up as one of the biggest retention blunders of all time.
Who would have thought the Broncos would be ahead of last year’s grand finalists at this stage of the season after beating the Rabbitohs in both games?
To do it this time without Payne Haas and Kurt Capewell will also put a stop to any ongoing speculation about Kevvie Walters’ position being under any threat whatsoever.
TOWNSEND A STEAL AT $2.4 MILLION
Chad Townsend will never be a Johnathan Thurston.
But right now there is no more important player to their team in the entire competition than the current Cowboys No. 7, a bloke who has spent his entire career before now being under-rated.
When Townsend signed his $2.4 million deal for three years most thought the Cowboys must have done the deal after a long night at the Mad Cow.
But if you are judging it now you’d say they got him for a steal.
And while they now take on the Tigers this week in Magic Round, it’s the clash against the Storm the following week in Townsville followed by the Panthers in Penrith that will really tell us where the Cowboys are at.
TEDDY SHOWS WHY HE IS THE BLUES’ NO. 1
In a field of hot fullbacks, James Tedesco just continues to show why he is the benchmark.
And he is the man who should be wearing the NSW Blues No. 1 jumper in Origin this year, regardless of how well Ryan Papenhuyzen (now injured) or Tom Trbojevic play.
Teddy produced another superb captain’s knock against the Titans, scoring the fourth hat-trick of his career as he charged for 185m from 14 runs that also included 10 tackle busts.
But the other impressive part of his game is how he has developed his voice on the field.
There were times during the Titans game where you could clearly see it wasn’t just his actions leading the way.
But he inspired his teammates through his talk, which hasn’t always been his greatest strength.
TRIPLE TREAT TRBOJEVICS BEST ADVERTISEMENT FOR NRL
As if seeing three Trboejvic brothers start a game together wasn’t good enough, watching how they interacted post-match in their interview on Fox League was one of the most naturally beautiful moments you have ever seen in our game.
Seriously, the way Jake spoke so proudly and emotionally about young Ben’s debut was just the best advertisement the NRL could hope to get this season. And when Tom joined the conversation it was exactly the same.
There was a time when Manly was the team everyone loved to hate.
But you couldn’t hate the Trbojevic brothers if you tried.
FRAWLEY SHOWS ‘FADERS’ THE WAY FORWARD
Matt Frawley was outstanding filling in for the suspended Jack Wighton in the Raiders’ win over the Bulldogs.
He scored a terrific solo try and came up with some crucial plays, while his short kicking game was superb.
With Wighton also set to miss this week’s clash against the Sharks, Frawley gets another chance to show Ricky Stuart why he should stay in the team going forward.
Young Brad Schneider has done a good job this year but having Frawley’s game management and especially his kicking game means he will be hard to leave out even when Wighton returns.
It was also great to see the Raiders take the penalty conversion instead of pushing for a try at one point.
While it drew criticism from some, that is exactly the type of patience the Raiders need to show if they are ever going to overcome this faders tag.
Gus’ ‘doctored’ claim ignites NRL conspiracy
The NRL Grand Final’s controversial no try scandal has taken a wild turn despite the game releasing the angle the decision was based on.
Kangaroos selection shocks: NRL legends’ Test careers appear over
Mal Meninga has dropped a major selection bombshell by overlooking both James Tedesco and Kalyn Ponga for Kangaroos selection, with the list of surprise omissions and debutants not ending there. See the full squad.