Another Grappling Issue for NRL Bosses

Bill Harrigan and Stuart Raper were welcomed in as the joint referees bosses late last year and I must say I was happy to see them appointed. A “back to basics” style of referring was to be adopted and officials were to be held accountable for their mistakes. Unfortunately for NRL fans, the bosses have fallen asleep at the wheel and one of the biggest scourges on the game is back. I refer to the grapple tackle.

Errors by both players and referees are expected in the heat of the battle. Fans will understandably blow up at the time but usually once the dust settles, everyone can move on. However, wider officiating issues that affect the fabric of the game can never be left to fester otherwise everyone is worse-off. The grapple tackle fits snugly into this category and I’m calling on both Harrigan and Raper to act quickly.

Statistically, total match scores in 2011 are a shadow of 2010. Taking weather and night-time dew out of the equation will prevent any false figures so I’ve collated the data from dry day matches only. In 2010 the average of these matches was 47, in 2009 it was 43 and in 2008 it was 49.5. This year it is astonishingly less than 37. Statistically, this is a huge variation on a rather large sample of figures and it should be viewed as a problem that needs to be addressed. One only needs to refer to the debacle at Leichhardt Oval yesterday to get a feel for the extent of the problem. Not a solitary point was scored in perfect conditions in a second half featuring the likes of Billy Slater and Benji Marshall. Devcich and Klein (both human filth who are oxygen thieves in my books) were clearly oblivious to the frustration of fans at the ground but as brain-dead and moronic as they may be, their bosses may be to blame. Here is my take on it:

1. Inconsistent policing of the grapple. Wrestling in defence is here to stay but there seems to be a clear inconsistency when it comes to quickening the pace of the game. Klein and Devcich’s interpretations bordered on criminal especially when you compare it to the questionable opening penalty in Origin II after which Paul Gallen correctly asked the question “are the rules different for this match?” Quite clearly the referees were told to speed up this match in particular. That is the big worry – the two referees seem to discuss their policy of how long is long enough prior to the kick-off of each match and unless privy to this conversation, players, fans and punters are left in the dark as to how the game will be refereed. Harrigan was one of the best in the game as he had a feel for when teams were taking advantage of him or if a particular match was being ruined. He probably gives the current batch too much credit in this regard and should set them clear KPIs for issues like play the ball speed etc. In the UK Super League this year, referees were encouraged by the RFL to make the bold call of sin-binning repeat offenders to prevent things getting out of hand. Clearly this needs to be the next step.
2. Marker defence. Confusion on the role of the marker has led referees to turn a blind eye to clear breaches in this area. 12 months ago, officials were criticised for favouring the attacking teams. This was justified, especially when footballers playing the ball would take a sneaky step to the right or left to catch the marker not square. Cracking down on walking off the mark was meant to eliminate this issue however referees have seemingly put their whistles in their pockets when it comes to marker infringements. As anyone knows, this slows down play.
3. The 10 metres – close enough is NOT good enough. Referees consistently allow defenders to stand a metre in front of them. While this may be acceptable to some, it clearly flies in the face of the crackdown on players standing in front of the kick off and line dropouts being taken half a metre over the tryline. We are also allowing quick taps to speed up the game and they have been well received. I feel that officials should be equally as vigilant on the offsides.
4. Two referees. Not working. I have forgotten how many times officials look at each other throughout matches wondering if the other will call the penalty. When it becomes obvious the other official didn’t see the incident. The other (usually junior) whistleblower tends to let it go. Too often they take the soft option of putting players on report as they are unsure what the other ref feels. One official should make the calls and the touchies should assist with anything they miss.
5. Irrelevant slowing down of play. In the Melbourne v Sydney Roosters match last week, play was stopped on the tryline while a player was treated for an injury on halfway. The same thing happened during the Wests Tigers v Melbourne match. When you add this to the pointless scrum conversations between referees and bemused forwards, it is giving all players the chance to grab their breath. This obviously slows down the pace of the game.
6. Judiciary/Chargings. This is where the true cheats in the game can be penalised and publicly vilified. The fact Sika Manu will escape any sort of suspension for his cowardly attacks on a couple of unsuspecting Tigers is just plain wrong. To happen on the same day that one of the best players in our game will be wiped out for one of the most anticipated Origin matches in history for an accidental bump into a referee is an utter embarrassment. This can and should be fixed as it is a terrible look for our game.  

I’m not into creating point scoring fests for the sake of fickle fans. Super rugby is the perfect example of why that doesn’t work. But Super rugby is also the perfect example of why low scoring borefests run by incompetent officials is the reason why we should stop the rot immediately. Tonight’s Manly v Parramatta match was one of the most exciting games I’ve seen in a while and that is because the referees knew how to control the game (and the ruck). Neither team were overtly slowed down at the play the ball and the referees were not noticed as a result. Yesterday at Leichhardt Oval, the more attacking side were clearly hamstrung by referees who did not pick up the clear cheating ploys by a more street-smart team. That is not good footy and it leaves people feeling hard-done-by.

The NRL is fully aware of the problems created by smaller kids leaving the sport of rugby league. The heavy wrestling and contact is also causing issues at the senior level. As a result, the game is only years away from moving to 8-interchanges and with the game expanding to new markets by 2015, a happy medium between attack and defence needs to be found. It needs to be found now.

 

One another note:

Last week’s crash of the website saw my article disappear within minutes of being posted. Needless to say it was the best piece of written pose in the history of mankind and will forever float through cyberspace with only myself and a single loyal follower’s memory as evidence of its existence. Bring on Origin III – let’s hope common sense prevails and JT is available for selection.

 

 

 Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images AsiaPac