A rugby league legend has ripped into “time-wasting” teams and trainers in the game with the NRL saying there are a few “disincentives” for players who feign injury.
Speaking on Triple M on Sunday, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo was asked how the league can deter players to stay down to pick up a penalty or stop time in the current environment of increased sin bins due to hip drops and dangerous tackles.
“We spend a lot of time in the off-season thinking about ways we can mitigate the risk of players feigning injury,” Abdo said.
Watch every game of NRL’s Magic Round LIVE in HD, with no ad-breaks during play on Fox League, available on Foxtel and Kayo >
“The Bunker can only intervene and stop play if it’s a reportable offence so we’ve raised the benchmark slightly, and now we’ve seen less of it.
“It’s about getting the balance right between the ref on the field, who’s only got his set of eyes and where he’s looking and the benefit of another experienced match official in the Bunker looking at multiple angles.
“We don’t want to over analyse things too much, we want continuity, but also making sure we identify the really material ones.”
Abdo went onto say that player safety is paramount and all precautions will be taken, including taking a player from the ground if he has faked an injury for a penalty.
“Player wellbeing and safety with regards to HIA’s, we aren’t going to take a backwards step for that however if a player is going to feign injury and they stay down on the ground for too long, well they are going to be removed,” Abdo said.
Eels get clutch last play awfully wrong! | 00:39
MORE NRL NEWS
BIG HITS: Foran winds back the clock in Titans win; Eels star ‘player of Magic Round’
CASUALTY WARD: Eels’ big Moses blow; Tigers lose star moments before kick-off
‘GOOD LOOK AT OURSELVES’: Tedesco’s blunt admission after Cowboys loss
“The club doctor or the independent doctor is going to take them from the field for assessment, so I think there are a few disincentives.”
Gorden Tallis instead directed his frustration towards some teams and their trainers, who he says come onto the field during an injury for the sole reason “to waste time.”
While not referencing any particular incident this season, Tallis believes it is a scenario that is happening far too often, labelling it his “gripe of the game”.
“When trainers stand there when players get hurt, and we all know it’s only to give his team 1-2 minute break, I don’t like that,” Tallis said on Triple M.
Cleary PUNCHED in manic scenes! | 01:02
“Just take the player off. You (trainers) aren’t a doctor, don’t sit there and assess. Get the player off and take him to the doctor.
“You stand there and do this half-arsed test but you have no idea what you are looking at.
“It is time wasting. If your team is under the pump, it’s a directive from the coach and it’s not cool.
“For the trainer that comes on when a player gets injured even though he isn’t injured and he stands in the middle of play, get off. Don’t stand there and stop the play.
“He’s got his designer stubble around his face, he’s lifted one bench press in his life, he’s never played a game of rugby league and he stands there to get on television so his Mum can say, I saw you on TV darl.”
Tallis said it’s an issue that’s “been on my nerve for a while”, remembering a 2021 final between Parramatta and Penrith where a Panthers trainer was suspended for the rest of the season for stopping play late in the game as the Eels were on the attack.
Furious JWH ready to have a ‘crack’ | 00:48
MORE NRL NEWS
‘SHOCKED ME’: Tigers rookie’s surprise just before making game-winning tackle
‘HAPPY TO CRACK HIM’: JWH’s fiery exchange with Cowboys prop over high shot
‘CHANGED MY LIFE’: Knight opens up on overcoming addiction battles after return
Tallis’ Triple M co-host, former Bulldogs and Dragons enforcer James Graham argued that the players own some responsibility in these situations.
“What I think players are doing and I say this often, but we are products of our environment so players know that if they are in a position that they think it may be a hip drop tackle or a crusher tackle or receive some of contact to the head, they’ll take longer to get up” Graham said.
“It then becomes a Mexican standoff between the player and the referee.
“The referee should just wait, and say I’ve not seen an infringement here so just play the ball or penalise the players.
“The incidents where it tends to happen is when they player has the ball and waiting to be checked by the Bunker but that’s something I really don’t like and what I’d like to see from the NRL, is to take the Bunker out of general play. If the referee misses any head contact initially, leave that to the match review committee.
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
“If the player stays down, here’s two potential solutions. The referee should keep saying play the ball, just keep saying that, and if they don’t play the ball, penalise them for time wasting and give the ball to the opposition. Or they bring out the stretcher.
“The stoppages in the game are just so frustrating for the fans.”
Tallis added that there was one player he noticed during Magic Round who gained his respect for not trying to milk a penalty.
“I want everybody to look at Canberra’s Jamal Fogarty over the weekend. Josh Reynolds hit him high and if he lays down, it’s a penalty, but he gets up and keeps going and I was like, I like you so much,” Tallis said.
“He is now one of my favourite players now because in that moment, he showed that the game was the star.”
