NRL slammed over handling of players making contact with referees

AS Bulldogs prop David Klemmer faces a two-week ban, the NRL has been slammed for their handling of players making contact with referees.

Screen Grab - Merrintouch: The Penrith Panthers' Trent Merrin touches the referee during the round two clash with the Canterbury Bulldogs.

IF a player touches a referee but nobody sees it ... does it really happen?

The NRL has been labelled “embarrassingly inconsistent” in their handling of players coming in contact with referees after the governing body missed two clear-cut cases in the opening rounds of the season.

As Canterbury prop David Klemmer faces a two-week ban for touching the chest of referee Ben Cummins, the NRL has admitted it missed the moment Parramatta’s Corey Norman touched a referee in round one.

And The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Penrith’s Trent Merrin avoided being charged with making contact with Cummins in Thursday night’s clash with the Bulldogs because the moment wasn’t aired live by Channel Nine.

Canterbury coach Des Hasler remains irate his star forward Klemmer could serve a two-game suspension for grade one contrary conduct, but Merrin — who touched the same referee on the waist just seconds later — wasn’t charged by the NRL match review committee.

Brisbane’s James Roberts was also hit with a grade one contrary conduct charge on Monday for a similar offence.

Norman clearly touched referee Matt Cecchin during the round one match against Brisbane at Pirtek Stadium but the NRL match review committee simply missed it.

The committee has since been told about the incident and have issued Norman an informal warning — through the club — against coming into contact with a match official.

Nine shot vision of the Merrin incident but the moment did not make it to air, meaning he won’t be charged.

This alone has led to calls of inconsistency in the NRL. There is an avenue for the NRL to charge a player subsequently but only in serious cases.

David Klemmer could miss two weeks for this contact with the referee.

NRL officials are aware though a player should not avoid a charge — as Merrin did — simply because Nine don’t show the incident.

In response, the governing body said the match review committee cannot make judgment on an incident they have not seen.

Penrith’s Jamie Soward came into contact referee Adam Devcich last Thursday night but avoided any penalty. The NRL described Soward’s contact as “accidental and unavoidable.”

The Bulldogs will challenge the Klemmer charge at an NRL judiciary hearing tomorrow night.

Asked for his thoughts on why some players were charged for touching a referee while others weren’t, Hasler only said: “Embarrassingly inconsistent.”

Nine have since found the Merrin incident in their files but it is unknown whether the NSW forward will, like Norman, be issued with a warning.

Eel Corey Norman evaded punishment — because his contact wasn’t seen.

One source close to Canterbury said: “Why should we have a player facing two games and others get off because the match review committee missed it or couldn’t see it? Where is the consistency? Didn’t the bunker cost $2m?”

The NRL say it is virtually impossible for officials to watch all 12 camera angles for every minute of every game. Club officials claim the NRL bunker has 39 screens and should show each and every moment during a match.

Roberts was charged for coming into contact with assistant referee Matt Noyen in Friday night’s match against New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium. Roberts has until Tuesday to determine whether he will fight the charge or accept his suspension.

Originally published as NRL slammed over handling of players making contact with referees