NRL investigating Penrith after finals controversy sparks blow-up

The NRL is reportedly looking into Penrith after controversy erupted over some late drama in their nailbiting win over the Eels.

Mitch Kenny was down for the count. Photo: Kayo.

The NRL is investigating a controversial stoppage late in Saturday’s semi-final between the Penrith Panthers and Parramatta Eels in Mackay.

With five minutes remaining in the nailbiting contest, Panthers hooker Mitch Kenny went down behind the play with an ankle injury following an awkward tackle on Parramatta forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard.

Penrith trainer Pete Green requested that play be stopped, allowing for Kenny to be replaced by Tevita Pangai Jr. Commentators were furious at the stoppage, which allowed Penrith to re-set its defensive line and halted the Eels’ momentum as they searched for a matchwinning try.

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“No, you can’t stop the play,” Eels legend Peter Sterling fumed. “That was late in the game when you are on a roll, it is third tackle. The worst thing that can happen to you with the football in your hand is for the opposition to get a rest. His was foot was stood on. He did leave the field, it worked.”

New South Wales coach Brad Fittler continued: “When did the game give the power to trainers, who are totally controlled by coaches, to be able to stop a game? That has got to be taken away.”

Sterling added: “There was also a stoppage tonight where a defending player was in the attacking line getting his knee strapped.

“You can’t stop for those things.”

Parramatta coach Brad Arthur complained about the pauses after the two-point defeat, claiming the stoppages seemed to occur when the Eels were on the attack.

“We’re trying to make the game faster, how many stoppages were there when we started to get on top,” Arthur told reporters in the post-match press conference.

According to the NRL Laws & Interpretations, trainers can only stop play if there are genuine safety concerns.

As reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, Green was not on the field when he requested play to be stopped, despite the NRL rules stating a trainer must carry out an “initial assessment” before asking for the game to be brought to a halt.

According to the report, the Penrith trainer could be suspended for Saturday’s preliminary final against the Melbourne Storm.

“The NRL is investigating whether the Panthers deliberately breached the rules in the dying minutes of their game against the Eels,” rugby league reporter Michael Chammas told Nine News on Sunday.

“The incident occurred when the trainer called for time to be stopped to treat injured hooker Mitchell Kenny.

“Under the NRL‘s rules, trainers are only allowed to call for play to be stopped for serious injuries after an initial assessment.

“Footage shows that when the time was called off, none of the Panthers trainers were even on the field.”

NRL head of football Graham Annesley said the officials can’t be blamed.

“It’s not the referees’ responsibility to determine if a player is seriously injured or not,” he said.

“They act on the advice of the trainer. There are rules governing when trainers can and can’t stop the game.

“We’ll be looking closely at that and other incidents out of the game to see if there was a breach of the rule or not.”

Penrith will take on Melbourne in Saturday afternoon’s preliminary final, with kick-off scheduled for 4pm AEST.

Originally published as NRL investigating Penrith after finals controversy sparks blow-up