“We’ve got massive control issues,” referee Ashley Klein told Souths prop Junior Tatola before dispatching him to the sin bin following a melee with Roosters lock/lunatic Victor Radley.
Massive control issues? You reckon, Ashley?
If ever the people in charge of the NRL needed evidence that rugby league requires a serious examination into how it’s officiated, surely the farcical scenes at Allianz Stadium on Sunday afternoon spelt it out in red pen.
The elimination final between South Sydney and the Roosters went from being one of the truly great bash-ups of modern times to a disjointed and frustrating sin-bin-a-thon, strangled by the constant involvement of the Bunker and the inability of a referee to exert any authority on players who seemed more concerned with winning the fight than the match.
Technology was supposed to enhance the game. Make it fairer. Instead, it’s tearing at its very fabric. Once, the greatest variables were the bounce of the ball, the form of a star player, a forward’s ability to play through pain.
Now, results swing on the opinions of faceless people sitting in a darkened room in an industrial area of Eveleigh, making calls on the run.
Referee Ashley Klein sends Victor Radley to the sin bin.Credit:Getty
Sometimes they get it right, often they get it wrong, and what’s left is an over-indulgence from officials poking their noses in to justify their existence.
Three moments from Sunday’s match explain how the Bunker has jumped the shark.
First, Radley gets sin-binned after wrestling with Souths winger Taane Milne on the ground, throwing the softest of punches into the scramble.
Actually, it wasn’t a punch — it was a clenched fist. I’ve given myself harder upper-cuts on a Saturday morning.
Soon after, Roosters captain James Tedesco cops a swinging arm from Souths prop Tom Burgess, whose technique has been dubious all season.
Tedesco is concussed, leaves the field, doesn’t return. Burgess stays on the field.
Riddle me this, Bunker: how can Radley be ordered from the field for a minor indiscretion, yet Burgess can stay on the field for a blatant swinging arm that ended the Roosters captain’s day?
The second moment involves Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who almost looked envious of those getting sin-binned so did whatever he could to get sin-binned in second half.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves argues with referee Ashley Klein.Credit:Getty
So, with that in mind, as Souths pressed the Roosters’ line, he grabbed Cameron Murray in a headlock and drove his head into the ground.
Waerea-Hargreaves then stood over him, crouched down like an NFL offensive lineman, staring at the Rabbitohs skipper, who has a long history with concussions, as he tried to regain his feet.
Great theatre. Great vision for the TV cameras. Great stuff.
But it should’ve been a penalty because it was a grubby act — involving Murray’s head.
Channel Nine and Fox Sports showed endless replays of the moment but we can only assume those in the Bunker were ordering pizza and didn’t see it.
There were seven sin bins in the Roosters-Rabbitohs clash on Sunday. Credit:Getty, NRL Photos
Like the Burgess incident, if the Bunker can’t properly evaluate these incidents, why have it?
The third moment is actually two moments, both involving Latrell Mitchell, who played his old team off a break in this match.
On two occasions, he wore forearms to the head. Both times, he refused to play the ball. Both times, the Bunker stepped in and awarded the penalty.
In other words, players don’t even lay down in tackles any longer to feign injury, prompting incidents to be reviewed so penalties can be awarded.
They just stop and look at the referee. It’s like Oprah is in charge: you get a penalty! You get a penalty! Everyone gets a penalty!
Mitchell was smart enough to get away with it. Klein, though, wasn’t strong enough to blow a penalty and, with that, we’re getting closer to the real problem.
The NRL, in its infinite wisdom, has slowly pared back the control and authority of the men in the middle, replacing them with video technology and “referee coaches” — spare me — in the stands.
In another life, we loathed the lairy referee. Now we pine for the days of a referee who refuses to be bullied.
How do you think the likes of Bill Harrigan, David Manson and even Greg Hartley would’ve handled Sunday’s fixture?
I’ll take a shot.
They would have let the players rip in for the first few sets before pulling the captains and protagonists aside, telling them, “If this keeps happening, I’m benching blokes. You’ve had your go, now settle down and worry about playing football.”
And then he would’ve dispatched players as he saw fit. If they kept crowding him, as the players did with almost every call on Sunday, he would’ve binned them too.
If they continued to disobey him, he would have sent them off altogether.
But it wouldn’t have got that far because the players would’ve feared what was coming. They have such little respect for referees these days they push far beyond the limits.
A solution?
The NRL needs to swallow its pride, allow the Bunker to make calls only on try-scoring situations, bring back two referees (one to control the ruck, the other to control the rest) and get the linespeople to keep an eye on foul play.
Because Ashley Klein is right: we’ve got massive control issues.
Stream the NRL Premiership 2022 live and free on 9Now.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
