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Foul play crackdown 'not the game we played’, NRL greats lament

It’s taken less than 160 minutes of football for former NRL stars to lamenting the loss of the game they came up playing.

Andrew McMurtryAndrew McMurtry
@AndrewMcMurtry
4 min read
May 14, 2021 - 11:28PM
Yet another sin bin – one of eight.
Yet another sin bin – one of eight.

The NRL has changed in the space of 160 minutes as eight sin bins have left former stars blown away by the changes.

The NRL announced it would be cracking down on foul play from Magic Round onwards but the first night of football has seen six sin bins.

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Coming after the Eels-Roosters game last week where the NRL was raked over the coals for an incident just before halftime when a shoulder charge on James Tedesco and knees in the ribs of Drew Hutchison left the Roosters playmaker in hospital with a puncture lung and broken ribs, the move was swift and harsh.

While many of the high shots were put on report across both games with four coming from Tigers-Knights game, including Knights lock Mitch Barnett sent for what Braith Anasta called “a sheer bump”, the Broncos were down to 11 men early in the second half after Tyson Gamble was called for a high shot and Jordan Riki was sin binned for using his head during a tackle.

Manly Josh Schuster and Lachlan Croker were also sin binned in the final minute for a ruck infringements.

It was two sin bins in less than a minute.

Manly scored three tries during the two-man advantage, running away with a 50-6 win at Suncorp Stadium, the biggest win for Manly against Brisbane.

Sin bin drama divides greats

But through the game, Broncos great Corey Parker and journeyman Michael Ennis appeared to be lamenting the change in the game.

The Gamble hit that had him sin binned.
The Gamble hit that had him sin binned.

Parker was more furious about the call, arguing while they weren’t pretty, it wasn’t sin bin worthy.

“That’s two in the last couple of minutes, 13 plays 11 if that’s a sin bin …” he began. “You may say it’s unnecessary but we’re coming into an Origin series and it’s where there are going to be some bodies on the line, passion and emotions. Boy oh boy.”

Ennis was more conflicted as the NRL are clearly trying to reduce the impact of head injuries.

“Jordan Riki, it was what we’ve seen for a long time but as you’ve seen there’s a clear directive to get any sort of contact with the head out of the game,” Ennis said. “If it’s contact with the head it’s contact with the head. It isn’t the game Corey and I played. It’s changed, and changed quickly.”

The Sea Eagles quickly scored and the standard had been set.

Commentator Dan Ginnane asked “do you like where we are going with this?”

“I’m not sure Dan,” Ennis replied. “That’s the honest truth. I’d love to give you a definitive answer. I don’t like seeing games like these where players are in the sin bin for minor contact.”

Parker said: “So your answer is no”.

“Corey, I’m not that one making decisions,” Ennis continued. “I get your frustration that Brisbane have lost two blokes but the directive is that they don’t want contact with the head. It is what it is. Whether we like it or not, whether it’s the game we played …”

Parker said the people missing out would be the fans in the stands.

“The standard has been set by what actually goes on in the coming weeks and coming games here at Suncorp,” he said.

Sin bin madness ‘ruins the spectacle’

The Riki tackle that had him sin binned.
The Riki tackle that had him sin binned.

Post match on Fox League, Gorden Tallis was fuming.

“It ruins the spectacle, the game is the star,” he said. “Accidents happen. Tyson Gamble’s tackle was not a send off. When he came across the field, he went to stop him from going in in the corner, and he hits the ball and his bicep hits him slightly on the chin. I'd hit a mozzie harder than that on my leg — that is not a sin bin. The game is as clean as it’s ever been.”

Greg Alexander said: “The foul play banner is an over-reaction because the Bunker and the referees missed a couple of things in the last few weeks. The James Tedesco high shot from Jordan Pereira, should have been sent off, the Drew Hutchison knees in the back from Dylan Brown was missed by everyone on the field and in the Bunker. Now all of a sudden we need to be stronger on the high shots.”

Alexander added he didn’t believe the two Broncos sin binned for foul play deserved it, saying “I don’t want to see players off the field for an over-reaction”.

Cooper Cronk also chimed in, saying the extra sin bins was a “contradiction” the speed brought in by the six again rule, and called for fans to not blame the referees for the crackdown.

Alexander said to keep the game safe amid this crackdown is “common sense”.

Asked if it was the game he loves, Tallis said: “It’s the game I love but it’s a version I’m not liking at the moment.”

“The game is tough an all that, and I know we've got to clean it up, but it's Magic Round and we want people here, and want kids to play the game, it’s as safe as its ever been,” he said.

“NRL is different than junior rugby league and you’re jumping at shadows and to have a Magic Round and a showpiece, I think it’s ruining it.”

NRL world reacts to crackdown

Social media was also lamenting the change in the game with the crackdown already appearing to change the fabric of the game.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/foul-play-crackdown-not-the-game-we-played-nrl-greats-lament/news-story/cbca89bf95501fee876668cdd3cd9744