Penaltyathon

[Nashy]

There is going to be an ease on the penalty crackdown. Sounds like the NRL have caved too media pressure.

Also, a change has been made to the sin bin rule. Players that commit serious acts of foul play will now be sin binned regardless of whether the victim plays on or not. Beforehand, they could only sin bin if the victim wasn't able to play on.

Greenburg changes the ref rules again? So unlike him. He's a fucking dicknut.

Penalise the **** out of them. Every. Single. Fucking. Infringement. In every fucking game, but every fucking ref. Instead of this game management bullshit that hasn't worked since the NRL became a thing. Just blow the fucking whistle when something in the rule book isn't allowed FFS.

 

[Foordy]

Greenburg changes the ref rules again? So unlike him. He's a fucking dicknut.

Penalise the **** out of them. Every. Single. Fucking. Infringement. In every fucking game, but every fucking ref. Instead of this game management bullshit that hasn't worked since the NRL became a thing. Just blow the fucking whistle when something in the rule book isn't allowed FFS.

And may I add for the refs to not give a flying **** if penalty counts are even ... if one team deserves an extra 10 penalties awarded against them, then bad luck

 

[Nashy]

And may I add for the refs to not give a flying **** if penalty counts are even ... if one team deserves an extra 10 penalties awarded against them, then bad luck

The fact they do care, only serves to prove the point that they manufacture results, and cheat.

 

[Sproj]

The problem though is that you could have a very lopsided penalty count like last week...except most of those penalties were dubious at best. Either way, it is pretty clear there is either an open or implied (or maybe even subconscious) expectation that refs will square up most ledgers and therefore, more even penalty counts lead to less scrutiny, the lesser of two evils in the eyes of refereeing staff I suppose.

 

[Morkel]

The problem though is that you could have a very lopsided penalty count like last week...except most of those penalties were dubious at best. Either way, it is pretty clear there is either an open or implied (or maybe even subconscious) expectation that refs will square up most ledgers and therefore, more even penalty counts lead to less scrutiny, the lesser of two evils in the eyes of refereeing staff I suppose.

I agree to a point, but where was the scrutiny towards our lopsided penalty count? Especially considering the majority were ghost penalties.

 

[Sproj]

I agree to a point, but where was the scrutiny towards our lopsided penalty count? Especially considering the majority were ghost penalties.

Yeah it’s sort of the point though isn’t it, 12-7 (or whatever it was) looks that little bit better than 12-5 on the surface.

When you factor in that it was against the Storm though, a team known for pushing the rules at every opportunity, it boggles the mind.

Obviously, you don’t want to preset penalties and be more inclined to penalise one team over another BUT until teams like the Storm get penalized out of games, what reason do they have to change? And when you get rewarded for second efforts to push players back in goal, why wouldn’t you flaunt the rules for every advantage you can get?

Until teams like the Storm, Sharks and Roosters lose penalty counts regularly and rightly, nothing will change and fans will continue to feel angry and disappointed at the rubbish the refereeing circus has become.

 

[Morkel]

Yeah it’s sort of the point though isn’t it, 12-7 (or whatever it was) looks that little bit better than 12-5 on the surface.

When you factor in that it was against the Storm though, a team known for pushing the rules at every opportunity, it boggles the mind.

Obviously, you don’t want to preset penalties and be more inclined to penalise one team over another BUT until teams like the Storm get penalized out of games, what reason do they have to change? And when you get rewarded for second efforts to push players back in goal, why wouldn’t you flaunt the rules for every advantage you can get?

Until teams like the Storm, Sharks and Roosters lose penalty counts regularly and rightly, nothing will change and fans will continue to feel angry and disappointed at the rubbish the refereeing circus has become.

On this I completely agree.

The "penaltyathon" is the crackdown we always wanted, with teams that push the rules too far being penalised. But it has been completely ruined by the continuation of the NRL Ref's two other policies, namely the "square-up" and the "leg-up" for teams behind in the penalty count and scoreboard respectively.

Even more frustrating when all 3 of those policies are completely abandoned because Broncos. The Storm weren't penalised even remotely enough for their foul play, the leg-up was only awarded to the Storm when they were behind, but we were shafted, with the leg-ups and square-ups never happening even when we were behind in both counts.

 

[Nashy]

Fix the rules. Make them black and white. Put the whistle in your mouth, exert air from your lungs via the whistle. Do that for every. single. penalty.

If they break a rule. Penalty. I don't care if they blow 500 a game until these fuckwits all start playing by the rules of the game. I'm sick of game management, it's not right, you don't manage them, you fucking play to the rules.

 

[Morkel]

Fix the rules. Make them black and white. Put the whistle in your mouth, exert air from your lungs via the whistle. Do that for every. single. penalty.

If they break a rule. Penalty. I don't care if they blow 500 a game until these fuckwits all start playing by the rules of the game. I'm sick of game management, it's not right, you don't manage them, you fucking play to the rules.

The rules are fixed. There is no black & white. Hand on the ball, penalty. Slightly off-side, penalty. Talk to the ref unless invited to, penalty.

There is one more rule, and it too is black & white. It's that the refs have to blow a penalty when an infringement occurs. That's the rule that needs the crackdown.

 

[Sproj]

The rules are fixed. There is no black & white. Hand on the ball, penalty. Slightly off-side, penalty. Talk to the ref unless invited to, penalty.

There is one more rule, and it too is black & white. It's that the refs have to blow a penalty when an infringement occurs. That's the rule that needs the crackdown.

That improvement in ref quality will only occur if they become accountable.

 

[john1420]

Fix the rules. Make them black and white. Put the whistle in your mouth, exert air from your lungs via the whistle. Do that for every. single. penalty.

If they break a rule. Penalty. I don't care if they blow 500 a game until these fuckwits all start playing by the rules of the game. I'm sick of game management, it's not right, you don't manage them, you fucking play to the rules.

Thanks Nashy

This is what I just can't understand - why are the legends of our game calling for refs to put the whistle away?

We must be the only sporting code in the world that actually asks refs to ignore the rules to improve the game

Seriously, WTF????

If you need to ignore the rules to improve the game, change the fucking rules you morons

Any idiot can see that, surely?

 

[GCBRONCO]

Gould on twitter makes the comment that referees are searching for penalties on the goal line and that not all penalties on the goal line are deliberate and that many are quite pedantic. While I agree that not EVERY penalty off the defenders tryline is deliberate (but you could say that anywhere on the field as well) teams are definitely being instructed in desperate situations to give them away to deny opportunities and kill momentum, why do you think so many teams will end up taking the two when they know the momentum has been killed, opposition gets to set it's defensive line and its business as usual?

The commentators crap on about how a side takes the two in a situation like that and act all surprised and state oh but that side would have never done that in the past, yeah well it didn't change overnight, give the referees the ability to use the sin bin more and maybe, just maybe you might see things change. Instead if we went down their road of entertainment before everything, the games entertainment funnily would suffer even more because teams would have even less to worry that much about penalties being given either, you don't think a team like the Storm won't increase the crap they get away if referees were instructed to be even less willing to use the whistle to save the "entertainment", please.

 

[I bleed Maroon]

Gould on twitter makes the comment that referees are searching for penalties on the goal line and that not all penalties on the goal line are deliberate and that many are quite pedantic. While I agree that not EVERY penalty off the defenders tryline is deliberate (but you could say that anywhere on the field as well) teams are definitely being instructed in desperate situations to give them away to deny opportunities and kill momentum, why do you think so many teams will end up taking the two when they know the momentum has been killed, opposition gets to set it's defensive line and its business as usual?

The commentators crap on about how a side takes the two in a situation like that and act all surprised and state oh but that side would have never done that in the past, yeah well it didn't change overnight, give the referees the ability to use the sin bin more and maybe, just maybe you might see things change. Instead if we went down their road of entertainment before everything, the games entertainment funnily would suffer even more because teams would have even less to worry that much about penalties being given either, you don't think a team like the Storm won't increase the crap they get away if referees were instructed to be even less willing to use the whistle to save the "entertainment", please.

Melbourne are complete darlings in the media's eyes so they see that as a win. If I were a commentator on League, I'd probably get a written warning from Nine or Fox Sports for the amount of complaining I'd do about them while calling their games. Meanwhile here is Phil Gould and A Johns too busy giving Smith and Slater a blowjob to even focus on what is actually happening on field.

 

[Dexter]

http://www.sportingnews.com/au/leag...eferee-ricky-stuart/brugj5pmd5l6156g72j505m6g

Never fear Phil Gould is here.

Why do these numpties always turn to the greatest mind in Rugby League to solve the problems.
Media pressure has changed their minds and he is the loudest advocate of returning to last years version of the game.

 

[Foordy]

I heard Fittler on the radio this morning going on and on about how the rules were black and white and the refs should just ref to the rules etc ...

I have news for you Freddy ... they tried that at the start of the season, but you dickheads in the media went on and on and on about how the refs were ruining the game by doing this ... you guys now have what you wanted, so live with it

 

[Nashy]

I heard Fittler on the radio this morning going on and on about how the rules were black and white and the refs should just ref to the rules etc ...

I have news for you Freddy ... they tried that at the start of the season, but you dickheads in the media went on and on and on about how the refs were ruining the game by doing this ... you guys now have what you wanted, so live with it

No they didn't. They just blew the whistle more. There were still the regular instances where team X got done for this penalty, team Y did it 5 times and got away with it.

 

[Battler]

Here's a solution: the second referee polices the ruck exclusively. Like he has nothing at all to do with general play, just the ruck. Ban all excessive working over of players and coach them to spot BJJ moves being applied to players. Do away with the notion that the count needs to be equal.

EDIT: Instantly fine coaches 10k who complain about excessive/ lopsided counts.

Reducing the interchange again won't improve the ruck speed at all, it will only encourage grubs like the Storm to push the boundaries further.

 

[Morkel]

Here's a solution: the second referee polices the ruck exclusively. Like he has nothing at all to do with general play, just the ruck. Ban all excessive working over of players and coach them to spot BJJ moves being applied to players. Do away with the notion that the count needs to be equal.

EDIT: Instantly fine coaches 10k who complain about excessive/ lopsided counts.

Reducing the interchange again won't improve the ruck speed at all, it will only encourage grubs like the Storm to push the boundaries further.

I've always wondered why this isn't the case. In fact, I thought the wrestling and ruck work was the main reason for the 2nd ref to be added - because it's hard to police that while marking the 10 metres for the defence.