NRL to overhaul judiciary and match review committee as part of sweeping review

THE NRL will significantly overhaul the judiciary and match review committee as part of its overall review of the game.

The judiciary and match review committee have come under fire in recent seasons.

THE NRL will significantly overhaul the judiciary and match review committee as part of its overall review of the game.

In welcome news for frustrated supporters, players and coaches, who were left feeling confused on numerous occasions last season, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal NRL officials will announce their findings to all 16 clubs before Christmas.

CEO Todd Greenberg has previously stated the match review and judiciary process was likely to be scrapped after heavy backlash from fans following a spate of inconsistencies between the match review panel and the judiciary in 2016.

A nine-person working committee conducted the review, which began four months ago.

The punishments doled out by the judiciary in recent years have come under heavy fire.

The working group includes Canterbury coach Des Hasler, Justice Geoff Bellew, Gold Coast Titans CEO Graham Annesley, New Zealand Warriors boss Jim Doyle, RLPA representative Clint Newton, NRL general manager of integrity Nick Weeks, former NRL prosecutor Peter Kite and football operations manager Nathan McGuirk.

NRL head of football Brian Canavan is also on the committee and told The Sunday Telegraph the review was in its final stages.

“We’ve got one more meeting with our judiciary procedures subcommittee and then the recommendations will go to the commission,” Canavan said.

“The aim is to get everything signed off before Christmas so we can inform the clubs.”

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Canavan said the review process had been thorough and fans can expect significant changes next season.

“It (the judicial process) has been reviewed pretty extensively at this stage and there are a couple of models that have been produced,” he said.

“What we are doing is called pressure-testing the models just to check for unintended consequences.

“That’s a whole process, which involves going over previous years and charges and then apply the new models to the ones we’ve used in the past.

“That’s how we pressure-test it.”

Originally published as NRL to overhaul judiciary and match review committee as part of sweeping review