The NRL will examine comments from three-time premiership-winning coach Ivan Cleary after he delivered a stinging rebuke of the Bunker following Penrith’s win to qualify for a fifth straight grand final.
In an explosive start to grand final week, NRL bosses have asked for a transcript of Cleary’s press conference after he labelled a decision not to award the Panthers a second-half try due to an obstruction call as “terrible”, and said the prospect of similar scenario unfolding in the grand final made him “anxious”.
But according to sources speaking on the condition of anonymity not allowed to discuss the matter publicly, it’s Cleary’s concession he hoped senior Bunker official Chris Butler wasn’t appointed to the grand final which has raised most concern.
Cleary quickly retracted the comment on Saturday night and said: “I shouldn’t say that”. But the NRL is expected to take a dim view of the subject anyway.
No coach has been fined this year for criticising match officials.
Wayne Bennett brought the issue to a head after the Dolphins were denied a try due to an obstruction decision in their round-27 loss to the Knights, with Cleary lending his support to the game’s most decorated coach.
A candid Cleary is not known as a coach who frequently raises the issue of match officials – and rarely discusses the issue in his weekly media commitments – but he took the extraordinary step of venting after the Panthers set up a grand final showdown with the Storm.
Penrith’s 20-point preliminary final win over the Sharks was laced with controversy when Cronulla centre Siosifa Talakai avoided the sin-bin for a late tackle on Jarome Luai in the first half.
The NRL’s match review committee hit Talakai with a grade one dangerous contact charge, which carries ann $1800 fine with an early guilty plea.
But fans were mostly bemused when Talakai was judged to have been impeded by Luke Garner in the lead-up to a Sunia Turuva effort.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley will analyse the decision on Monday morning before he clarifies his position during his weekly briefing later that afternoon.
Sharks prop Toby Rudolf faces a one-match suspension after being issued a grade two dangerous contact charge for tripping Isaah Yeo in the opening minutes of the game.
Rudolf escaped being sent to the sin-bin for the foul play.
The Panthers will be trying to win their fourth straight title under Cleary against the team who beat them in the 2020 grand final.
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