Phil Gould eviscerates NRL in tweet barrage

NRL guru Phil Gould has pushed the NRL deeper into crisis with a shocking tweeting storm that has exposed the game’s “disgrace”.

Gus has pushed the NRL to breaking point.

Rugby league guru Phil Gould has shone a light on the NRL’s referee crisis in a move that has plunged the game closer to breaking point.

The 62-year-old on Friday night exposed the depth of fans’ disillusionment with the sport since the game’s snap crackdown on foul play and head contact brought in before the Magic Round in Brisbane this year.

The new rule interpretations have changed the fabric of the sport with coaches, commentators and fans fearing for the future of the sport, while the NRL juggles protecting players from concussions and head injuries.

The issue again overshadowed Friday night’s games with Roosters forward Sio Siua Taukeiaho sent to the bin for a controversial high tackle in his team’s loss to the Panthers, while Cowboys star Reece Robson was also sent to the bin for high collision to the head of Sharks forward Aiden Tolman in Cronulla’s win over the Cowboys.

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Gould poured fuel on the burning fan anger on Friday night when he took to Twitter to show a sample of the angry messages he has been sent by fans demanding changes to the rules and Peter V’landys position as chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission.

Gould created the firestorm by asking if his followers were enjoying the Friday night games.

He followed it up on Saturday morning by re-posting some of the messages he received from raging fans.

“Just retweeted a sample of the messages people sent me during last night’s NRL matches,” he posted.

Siosiua Taukeiaho got marched.

“I get them every week. The trend is obvious. The fans are frustrated at not having a voice. They are frustrated with how our game is officiated. There is no sugar-coating that bitter pill.”

Many of the messages called for Gould to lead a move to replace V’landys, while others sad simply they switched over to watch Geelong’s heart-stopping win over the Western Bulldogs in the AFL on Friday night.

Here are some of the messages shared by Gould:

— “You can’t sin bin a player tackling a slipping player. Peter Vlandys is ruining our game.”

— “Gus it is beyond ridiculous and to be fair to the referees, they are no doubt be directed very very clearly about what they MUST do. The best organisations anywhere be it sport or not, seek advice and allow those that are remunerated to do their jobs to do just that #afishrots.”

— “Once SST was sin binned I switched off and watched a History documentary. The guy slipped, it was utterly accidental and Taukeiaho had no time to adjust.”

— “I want a contest Phil. Send off and six again have ruined the spectacle. Protect the head with common sense officiating. Abandon six again, now.”

— The fans are very frustrated and surely the broadcasters are too.. Prime time Fri night Roosters leading the top of the table Panthers in a tough battle 12-0 and we finally had a great game on our hands. Then bunker gets involved.... 38-12.”

— “Gus - I now only watch my team play and even that’s hard. Don’t even think about watching the other games on a weekend because it’s unwatchable. In two years the fabric has completely changed.”

Gus isn’t happy.

— “Vlandy’s must go. His position is untenable. How does Robson being sin binned makes NRL safe?”

— “Sin bin was a absolute bloody disgrace, embarrassing to say the least.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson also blew up about the decision to send Taukeiaho to the bin — and Panthers coach Ivan Cleary agreed with him when speaking during the post match press conferences.

“I don’t know where Siosiua was supposed to go,” Robinson said.

“Is he supposed to jump out of the way? I’m interested in what he was supposed to do?

“Ashley (Klein) was fine with it and then the bunker decides to jump in again and we’ve gone back to two referees on the field again - we wanted to get away from that.

“Now they’ve jumped back in and Ashley knew and he looked at it on the replay and they said, ‘no you’ve got to send him off’.

“I’m interested in what physically you wanted Siosiua to do there?

“What actual movement would you have liked for him to have done there?

“I think the NRL needs to explain what happens in those instances. What do they want them to do? I’d be interested to know.

“Everybody could see he was slipping and slipping a lot, Siosiua’s arm was right down by his side and he (Cleary) was running the ball close to the line and he slips on a wet night.”