Mark Gasnier: Simplicity’s key to keeping NRL fans, but admin is to blame for current state, not refs

WHAT are we as a game? That’s what the NRL administration needs to ask itself immediately because until that’s answered the mess the game has become cannot be rectified, writes MARK GASNIER.

WHAT are we as a game?

That’s what the NRL administration needs to ask itself immediately because until that’s answered the mess the game has become cannot be rectified.

The simplicity of rugby league was its main appeal, particularly to those that were new to the game.

We could all sit there and identify what a knock on was. It was a time when a shepherd was a shepherd and rightly or wrongly, the referee was the boss that controlled the game.

Now we have more rules and interpretations than I have ever witnessed in my time in the game.

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The NRL has become too confusing with extensive rules, says Mark Gasnier. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

The poor referees are constantly getting instructed through their ears about what to look out for and what might possibly happen on the next play.

On top of this they have the option of someone else making the decision for them. That’s a good way to make the refs feel confident and assertive!

When it comes to watching the game I sit there and I’m confused about rules or interpretations. My lines are blurred in between what the rule should be based on my instinct of playing the game from the age of four, and what the referees might come up with based on the interpretations implemented – which have varied not only from year to year but within seasons as we have witnessed this year.

The controversial Raiders-Sharks ‘flag up’ incident was the last straw for many NRL fans.

If I’m confused I can’t imagine how the fans must feel when watching their team let alone someone who only has a passing interest in the game. I have no doubt we are losing some of these people largely because the game is in a state of confusion.

But don’t shoot the messengers. The problem is the games administration not the referees.

Todd Greenberg was appointed the NRL’s head of football in 2013 and has gone on to become chief executive but, since his arrival at the head office the game has no idea what it wants to be nor where it is headed as an on-field product.

He introduced the bunker at a huge financial cost to the game and has played a leading hand in all these changing rules and interpretations.

This has done nothing but create the most delusion and confusion the game has ever seen. This at a time when participation in heartland areas of junior rugby league are dwindling along with the volunteers that allow it to function.

Todd was rewarded with the top job in 2016 and proceeded to safely appoint a head of football that he knew would not expose the flaws that he implemented in his previous role.

It’s ironic that Todd’s appointment came after the commission cited they wanted someone with more rugby league knowledge to replace Dave Smith as CEO

Players are finding it hard to understand the rules, let alone the supporters of rugby league. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

One of the reasons Todd was tasked with changing rules and interpretations was an aim to stay one step ahead of coaches he believed were using negative tactics.

If he knew what we were as a game and had confidence in his ability to dictate the direction of it he would have known that coaches would sort out their opposing coaches negative tactics as long as rugby league maintained its key principles - which were traditional rules, fatigue, simplicity and consistency.

Gasnier believes the game must simplified. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

But instead head office has tried to play God, destroying any prospect of free-following matches and great spectacles through their whistles.

The penalty blitz did not work, becoming a blight on the game and making matches more unwatchable than ever.

As Todd said in March - “If people want to come out over this weekend and start ripping into the referees, I’ve got some advice for them: they better start ripping into me first because all the referees are doing is following instruction”

Well Todd we are.

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Originally published as Mark Gasnier: Simplicity’s key to keeping NRL fans, but admin is to blame for current state, not refs