Wayne Bennett slams NRL crackdown for slowing down the game

Wayne Bennett has backed the NRL crackdown on head knocks, but has unloaded on the unexpected consequence it’s inflamed.

Souths benefited from a penalty call.

South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett has admitted that he both agrees with the NRL’s high shot crackdown, but has taken aim about the shifting rules that have slowed the game.

While on Friday night the Broncos were ruined by a 10 minute stretch where they were down to 11 men, the Raiders appeared to thrive after Josh Papalii’s send off.

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But a controversial moment also appeared to help the Rabbitohs secure victory over the Sharks with a crusher tackle with a moment that was slammed by former stars.

Asked about the officiating, Bennett said he was confused some of the calls but that he wanted the NRL to stand firm on eradicating head knocks from the game.

“I’m a bit worried about it, I’m getting confused, they talk about a fast open game and that’s not what we’re doing,” Bennett said.

“I’ve been on this for a long time about the head stuff. I’m totally supportive of that. But I’m not supportive of the game letting it go on for a minute after it and we all stop the game and go through the video and then we put somebody on report and we kick a penalty.

“You’ve got to understand that the game relies on momentum. For the game to be attractive, it has to have momentum and every time you stop the game, you break the momentum. And these guys are so fit and everyone has to go back and they all have to start it all over again.

“That’s the problem with the captain’s challenge. There are a lot of things I like about the captain’s challenge but it stops the game. Everyone stands around, everyone has a talk, go up, officiate, back we come. Tonight we let the game go on and then went back to the point where the incident happened. If the ref doesn’t see it, lets just get on with it.”

Wayne Bennett has slammed the slow down aspect of the crackdown.

Bennett wasn’t necessarily referring to the crusher tackle that helped the Rabbitohs ice the game, saying there were more moments throughout the match.

But he added: “Who’s refereeing the game now? Is the Bunker? The Bunker is there for the support of the referees. But if the ref hasn’t seen it or penalised it, they can pick it up tomorrow and they can charge the player tomorrow. We’re not going to have a fast and free-flowing game if we miss the moment – I’m not about not penalising, is that clear – have another four or five tackles and then stop the game and go back to the point, all walk back to the penalty and all start over again. We’re not going to have the game to entertain the fans with because it’s another piece of the game which comes with the Bunkers and the captain’s challenge which stops the whole game.”

Bennett said he doesn’t believe there should be any head contact at all but the system should work to penalise the player later if they miss it in the moment.

He also reminded the NRL that “we’re in the entertainment business – if I’m sitting there with a remote control, I can go to any channel I want that quickly”.

“They’ve changed a whole lot of rules to get this game, but they’ve put in all these other rules that is preventing that from happening,” he said. “You’ve all got to understand that when the game stops for three or four minutes, these guys recover and you have to start the arm wrestle and start it all again. It’s a game of attrition and you’ve got to keep at each other for four or five sets to get what you want. But every time we stop, the game starts from zero again.”

Bennett said teams will be on both sides of the calls as the rounds go on.

As for the high shots, Bennett said he agreed with the NRL stance and to eradicate the foul play and allow the game to flow.

“Look, AFL won’t accept it. You touch anyone above the shoulders, you’re in trouble,” he said. “rugby union made a huge change two years ago, anything above the shoulders and you’re in the sin bin in rugby union and you’re going to be out for two or three weeks.

“When are we going to get the message in our game? Libel cases again us in the next 10 years with case after case because the game did nothing about reducing the number of head knocks? Drive more people away from not letting the kids play because it’s OK to knock someone out with a head high? It’s a poor excuse. Peter is at that point and he’s 100 per cent right.

“Players will change their behaviour that quickly it doesn’t matter. Why is it our game it’s acceptable to hit people in the head when I’ve just talked about two other codes that won’t accept that? Are we all right and they’re all wrong? I don’t think so.”