I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on Sunday.
Roosters lock Victor Radley was wrestling on the ground with Souths winger Taane Milne but after the bunker intervened he was sent to the sin bin.
For what? It wasn’t a punch. He had a clenched fist.
The NRL needs to get serious about the bunker and if they won’t listen to people like me, they should listen to someone like Rick Williams, the former ice hockey referee responsible for introducing the concept to rugby league.
Williams spoke to the Herald in July following the Tigers-Cowboys debacle but nobody at the NRL has taken his advice.
“A word of warning to limit the bunker use strictly for adjudicating on tries,” Williams said, adding: “They have gone well beyond what it was designed for”.
Referee Ashley Klein sends Victor Radley to the sin bin.Credit:Getty
Referees have lost the feel of the game. They no longer know how to adjudicate on their own. They are constantly second-guessing themselves because the bunker is constantly in his ear.
I couldn’t imagine, when I was playing, having the coach constantly in my ear: Look at the short side, look at the markers … It would’ve driven me mad.
I don’t blame the referees, nor the people in the bunker.
It’s those above them who allowed this to happen; who thought it was a good idea to have the bunker coming over the top of the ref, who came up with the captain’s challenge, who are happy with all the stoppages that are trashing the game.
If the referee doesn’t see it, if the linespeople don’t see it, if the penalty isn’t that obvious, let it flow.
The solution: two referees.
Have one senior referee with the whistle who controls the 10 metres and foul play. Then you have a ruck referee with no whistle who manages the ruck and markers being offside and, in particular, stops the third man coming in to stop lifting tackles.
At the end of this year, the players, coaches, the RLPA, even some people from the media, need to sit down with the NRL and come up with a solution.
‘They [the NRL bunker] have gone well beyond what it was designed for’
Former ice hockey referee and bunker expert Rick Williams
The constant stop-start we had on Sunday is not good for the game.
I don’t want the rest of the finals ruined by the bunker because there are two great games this weekend.
Parramatta v Canberra
How will Parramatta come up mentally after the loss to Penrith?
And what of Mitchell Moses, who suffered concussion against the Panthers last week? If he cops another whack, will that be the end of his night?
They are the big questions for this match.
It will be a high-scoring game with fast and open footy — but the key is who can win the front-row battle.
It’s a battle that will shake the stadium: Parramatta’s Junior Paulo and Reagan Campbell-Gillard up against the Raiders’ Josh Papalii and Joe Tapine.
The Raiders are flying. They have such a great pack with great balance. They have Hudson Young on the left and Elliott Whitehead on the right: they’re mobile, have great footwork and pop late off-loads.
When the Raiders’ forwards start rolling through the middle, they’re almost impossible to stop and wrap up the ball.
I love what halfback Jamal Fogarty has been doing since coming back from injury. He’s an organising seven who does most of the kicking, and this frees up five-eighth Jack Wighton to run and play simple.
Parramatta have similar strengths to Canberra.
Moses does all the organising and kicking while Dylan Brown can run.
That’s where the Eels can really improve: Brown needs to be more dominant than he was against Penrith and run the ball as much as he can.
Joey’s tip: Eels by 8.
First try-scorer: Dylan Brown.
Man of the match: Junior Paulo.
Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker celebrate.Credit:Getty
Cronulla v South Sydney
The challenge for Souths is whether, emotionally and physically, they can get up again.
If their forwards can hold their own, Lachlan Ilias, Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell will just take over.
Walker was Cliff Lyons-like against the Roosters. As for Mitchell, he’s one of the best entertainers we’ve seen in this game for a long, long time. I can’t take my eyes off him, just waiting for something to happen.
Cameron Murray, however, is the key to Souths. His go-forward, quick play-the-balls and ball-playing through the middle when he links with Walker and Ilias is so important.
He also leads the defensive line. He’d be a champion in any era.
Cronulla were unlucky last week against the Cowboys. The no-try to Connor Tracey in the second half really hurt them.
Nicho Hynes is playing at an elite level. He has a mind coach that helps him prepare but also how to handle different situations and how to work through them.
If there’s one area where their attack can improve it’s giving more quality ball, at the right time, to centre Jesse Ramien.
Hooker Blayke Brailey can have a lot of success around the ruck — an area in which Souths were poor against the Roosters with James Tedesco causing real trouble until he was concussed.
The issue for the Sharks last week was their defence. Their marker work was poor and they had too many one-on-one misses. Tom Dearden’s runaway try illustrated that.
No team attacks better off set restarts and penalties than Souths, winding up that lethal left-side attack, so the Sharks need to keep the ball in play and limit the penalties they give away.
Joey’s tip: Sharks in golden point.
First try-scorer: Alex Johnston.
Man of the match: Nicho Hynes.
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