This sounds like it is taken straight from Brett Read on NRL Tonight and I almost completely, frustratingly disagree with it. Which fans actually said this? I cannot speak for fans of other clubs but I will tell you one thing, I don't know of anyone who was saying give players more fines and less suspensions, I genuinely don't think I have ever heard anyone at all say this except maybe V'landys.
I tell you what fans have been screaming out for, consistency. Whether that is more fines or more suspensions makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. Honestly, who cares which one they want to go with, the issue from last year to this year is 100% the same - no consistency.
The talking idiots go on about protecting player welfare, etc and then one sentence later are talking about elbows to the head being just part of a kid's initiation.
I cannot believe that on that same episode of NRL Tonight...last night, Steve Roach of all people made the most sense. He said who are the MRC to say that the elbow from Munster on Walker for example was not forceful or not forceful enough. Does it matter either way? If they genuinely care about the players, get that rubbish out of the game and to do it, guess what, you need consistency.
The issue that happened with the previous system was loading and carry over points to the point where someone would miss a week for a minor slap across the face because the MRC charged it as a grade 1 and players would just accept the charge so they didnt miss a week.
The issue now is shit like NAS dropping his entire body weight onto someone's head is graded and charged at the same level as a minor accidental slap across the face .... or even less.
So under the previous system someone like Flegler, who is barely allowed to be aggressive on the field without copping a penalty and going on report for "tackling too hard", ends up racking up grade 1's for minor high shots and misses weeks through loading, etc. whereas under this new system someone like NAS is out there throwing elbows and getting minor charges that amount to nothing.
The charging from the MRC is the issue.... NAS was a grade 2, at minimum, if that same action goes slightly wrong and he gets him anywhere below the eyeline he's straight to the judiciary getting months rather than weeks, because if it gets a more vulnerable part of the head it would've broken a cheekbone, jaw, eye socket, nose, etc.... but you then get fuckwit talking heads Parker and Gordie talking it down immediately after the match like it's an initiation to get you face caved in, and so NSWRL take that as the narrative and sweep it under the rug with a grade 1.... exactly the same as JWH on Fulton where he's forcefully and intentionally pushing the point of his elbow into his head... it was talked down as initiations and bullshit like that so NSWRL have their narrative to sweep it away.
Then you get Carrigan and the NSWRL begging for blood.... BSmith a couple weeks later, nah that's all good... Collins on the weekend immediately talked down as a lesser charge even though Eisenhuth is now done for the year.
The only reason NAS is being talked up is because it exploded on Twitter via Martin Lang, but it happened after the grading. So the MRC missed the trick and went with Parker's "ok to cave his face in" grading instead of consensus from the masses.
MRC is reactive and determine their charges based on whatever the media narrative is... so Fitler, Johns and the NSWRL biased media are basically charging these players based on the narrative they choose and they inherently protect the golden child clubs that they like whilst throwing every other club under the bus to be made an example of.
