NRL halfbacks may as well be encased in a bullet-proof popemobile, given the protection they receive from referees.
Any contact with a No.7 after he passes the ball, or kicks it, seemingly results in a penalty and sometimes a trip to the sin bin.
Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes.Credit: Getty
The debate over hip-drop tackles has overshadowed the trend of referees over-officiating in favour of the playmakers.
Of the 49 sin bin cases this season, eight have been for hip-drop tackles, while six have been for contact after the pass and three for contact off the ball. Eleven have been for high tackles, admittedly not all against players who have hit halfbacks.
Some hip-drop tackles are not so much tackles as attempts to catch the ball carrier, similar to one attempting to catch the 7.55am train on a Monday. However, defenders are so concerned about being penalised for contact with the playmakers, they are holding off tackling them.
Inevitably, the No.7s, aware the defence has held back, will start running on the last tackle and set up potentially match-winning tries.
Matt Burton slides through the Cronulla defence to set up a try.Credit: Fairfax Media
In round eight, a Cronulla player was penalised for a late hit on Canterbury’s Matt Burton. The contact was so gentle, the Shark has probably embraced his romantic partner more tightly.
Towards the end of the match, with Burton in possession of the ball in front of the Sharks’ posts and the Cronulla defenders fearful of conceding a penalty, the Bulldogs playmaker dummied, ran and passed the ball for a try.
Similarly, Warriors half, Shaun Johnson who is having his best season in years, began running the ball on the last tackle late in the match against Melbourne, with the Storm defenders holding back.
Every position on the field has some vulnerability, attracting a degree of physical intimidation, or capacity for mental disintegration, yet halfbacks are treated differently.
Fullbacks must seize a high spiralling ball surrounded by opposition players, with at least one of them contesting the catch. The kicks, incidentally, are more accurate because, given the latitude allowed the opposition kicker, he has more time to launch his bomb.
Wingers, too, are now called upon to return the ball against opponents intent on driving them back. Once called “finishers”, wingers are now “starters”, given their responsibility in carrying the ball downfield from kicks.
Centres, too, are asked to be battering rams, executing the heavy carries against a set defence. South Sydney say their most war-torn player at the end of every match is Campbell Graham. Ditto the Storm’s Justin Olam.
The middle forwards are required to make 40-plus tackles, while the back-rowers are often rendered helpless against a stepping half or elusive five-eighth.
The protection of halves, either as passers or kickers, is the result of a clear direction from the ARL Commission. Fearful of injury to the little guys, a memo sent to clubs on July 27, 2021 says, “…the Commission remains committed to protecting kickers and key playmakers, particularly when they are in vulnerable positions, and not in possession of the ball.”
While the directive is nearly two years old, referees have been increasingly erring on the side of caution since.
Coaches criticise their players for late hits on halves, demanding they use their hands as a bumper bar on the playmaker, or wrap their arms around him.
But the big boys say they need to set themselves to tackle in order to pressure these twinkle-quick ball players. Referees penalise a defender who tackles the kicker when the kicker has one or both feet off the ground but it’s difficult for a charging 110kg forward to judge the millisecond difference.
The memo also invites referees, somewhat subjectively, to punish tackles on playmakers who are “off balance”, or if the tackle is “impermissibly late.”
Middle forwards protest that halfbacks have the support of TV commentators who are mainly former No.7s.
Nine’s Andrew Johns, Johnathan Thurston and Darren Lockyer, as well as Fox’s Greg Alexander and Cooper Cronk are all former champion halves.
Cronk doesn’t buy the argument halves should be treated differently to any other position on the field.“Everyone on the field must be subject to pressure, be it physical or mental,” he said. “You must be able to cop a bruise whatever position you play.”
He accepts that ball players attract more attention from defenders but points out that the No.13s in most teams, such as Penrith’s Isaah Yeo, are now playmakers.
Panthers forward Isaah Yeo.Credit: Getty
Cronk saw his role as breaking down the opposition defence to create space for a teammate. “Part of a halfback’s play is to run the ball and create space for a teammate to run his line,” he said.
Whereas some halfbacks see danger and chaos, Cronk saw order and opportunity. His reward was for a teammate to run into space. “If I was hit late, or high, I’d always look up after the tackle to see if I’d created space for someone. A half who doesn’t commit the defence, hasn’t done his job,” he said.
If hit well after he had passed the ball, “someone should sit down for 10 minutes in the dressing room.”
Cronk expresses sympathy for referees, adding, “It is a very fine line for referees to adjudicate.”
Halfback Peter Sterling represented Parramatta in the very physical late 1970s and early 1980s, when few played as if dressed in a dinner suit. He once told me, “The player who goes right to the line before he unloads is an open target, but I draw the line at three late hits per game.”
In other words, Sterling, like Cronk, accepted the risk inherent in the position, only drawing the referee’s attention after a third late tackle. Today, referees act after incidental contact on halves following a pass or kick.
“The essence of being a halfback shouldn’t change,” says Cronk, “from the days of Tommy Raudonikis to Johnathan Thurston to Nathan Cleary.”
Yet, like the pontiff with his infallibility and a popemobile, the NRL has awarded halfbacks special protection not given any other players on the field.
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