The Corey Oates Incident

[Big Pete]

“It’s big. And this is hard because I sit there and if I’m Corey Oates’ mum or dad I sit there watching and I think we’re arguing about a try being scored but then you’re a Penrith Panthers fan, to the letter of the law that’s play on,” Gasnier said.

“Because they didn’t regather the football, the Brisbane Broncos. If they did that would have constituted a knock on and a scrum being packed.

“But the ball lay there, they picked it up and they ran. And that would have been 6-all.”

“Problem is, we’re now leaving the refs to be doctors. How can we say we leave it in their hands to say you’ve got to adjudicate, he’s motionless,” Gasnier said.

“We’ve got to take interpretations out of the refs’ hands as much as possible. They’ve got such a hard job.”

Kent agreed with Gasnier’s assessment that play should have been allowed to go on, pointing out that “the one thing the referees didn’t want this week was another howler that dominated the conversation”.

Kevin Walters, meanwhile, sided with the officials, saying it was not worth taking risks with player welfare.

“I’ve got no problem with the referee pulling up the play, I’ve got to say,” Walters said.

“Player welfare is a big part of the game and certainly the foremost in the referee’s mind, he must have thought Corey Oates was really seriously injured.

“Technically that play hasn’t (cost the Panthers the game) because it happened (so early in the game).

“So they still had (60 minutes) to save their season. But it could have been a game changer for the Panthers.”

That was pointed out by a spokesman for the NRL immediately after the game, who told foxsports.com.au: “There are guidelines in place regarding head injuries which enable play to be stopped immediately in some circumstances.

“There was a potentially serious injury involved and the referee determined that player welfare should be the focus.

“Play was stopped immediately as the team doctor had to urgently enter the field.”

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...n/news-story/a45d5656e5b504d1643a85be78bcdd4c

A lot of posts on here have discussed the issue but obviously it's a discussion that's going to dominate the fall-out of the game and we've seen members on here discuss both sides of it. I thought it would be worthwhile chronicling the media fall-out just to see where everyone stands on the issue.

Does this play open up a can of worms? And has there ever been a precedent where a player has suffered a serious injury and the referee has allowed the play to go on?

 

[Wolfie]

I think its all down to common sense really. Oates head clash was obviously serious, so the play was rightly imo stopped. The collision was huge. He could have swallowed his tongue, been having convulsions or fractured his skull. You just cant let a game of football carry on when the risk is there.

What we dont want however is players staying down to stop the play if its not genuinely serious. Its something that needs looking at if we stop play for collisions like last night. There will always be players and coaches looking to exploit stuff like this. There needs to be serious consequences imo if a player is caught milking and exploiting such a situation.

 

[Sproj]

No idea to those questions @Big Pete but I just want to clarify a few things. I don't believe the refs got it wrong at all as they made a decision in the heat of battle and given Oates seeming 'fit' afterwards, the refs got it right clearly.

At the time though, I thought Fittler was fine in asking the question as I was wondering the same thing. He got it clarified by the other commentators and moved on, nothing wrong with that in my opinion.

Had it been Gould commentating, no doubt he would have kept pushing the agenda but I didn't think anything of it at the time. Gasnier and Kent are noted Broncos bashers though, so their comments shouldn't surprise in the aftermath. They aren't the sharpest tools in the shed.

 

[tommy]

At the time I thought the Panthers were a bit hard done by and if it had happened to us I would have been ropeable. But in the cold light of day yes the correct call was made. I think it's already been pointed out but it was an accidental offside so play is stopped immediately anyway.

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

Oates was knocked out, stop play which they did its called Players Welfare i dont even know why they are even winging about it.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Corey Oates was not moving. His body was lifeless. People are right, the refs aren't doctors. If there is a lifeless body there (potentially choking to death, haemorrhaging blood into his brain, a displaced fracture of his spinal column, suffocating with a punctured lung) at my work I don't keep on working-even boxers and mma fights stop!!! Why is this even a debate?! Hindsight is wonderful but the 2 minutes the try would have taken up could have been the difference between life and death for all we knew. It was a gutless act to play on by the panthers players AFTER looking at him for 2 to 3 seconds. And it was even more gutless for Fittler to suggest it because he knew the panthers couldn't score any other way until we took the foot off the pedal.

 

[kat00]

I turned over to 9 at the end of the game at about 10:15, Andrew Johns congratulated the ref for stopping the game. Wally Lewis was not as vocal but appeared to agree with Johns.
I was amazed at just how different the opinion was between commentators/channels.

 

[Broncs_Fan]

The knock outs are really piling up for Corey Oates. Let's not forget he's only 22 and will most likely play for at least another decade. Kind of scary for him.

 

[Danoz Direct]

Obviously I think the right call was made for the sake of the welfare of a player.

Isn't this all a moot point though as Oates knocked it on into his own player in front, meaning an accidental offside and scrum?

 

[Big Pete]

For the play to be dead, doesn't Oates have to regather it?

It seems like Oates ran into Milford, still had possession of the football and only lost it as he was coming down.

 

[winslow_wong]

None of the Penrith players seemed worried about play being stopped. Only a few scumbag commentators have made a thing of it

 

[Broncs_Fan]

What about Wayne ...

“The three of them will be right to play next week,” Bennett said.
“They are all conscious. We’ve got a seven-day turnaround.
“They don’t have a history of head knocks. I’m pretty confident.”

Yeah right Oates doesn't have a history of head knocks ... I'll be shocked if Oates plays next weekend.

 

[ningnangnong]

Absolutely the right decision to stop play, there is no argument IMO.

A player's well-being is of paramount importance ahead of everything else on the footy field. In instances such as this one, every second can count in terms of someone's health.

 

[Danoz Direct]

For the play to be dead, doesn't Oates have to regather it?

It seems like Oates ran into Milford, still had possession of the football and only lost it as he was coming down.

Yeah I'm not to sure but I do think when Oates did lose it, it did come in contact with Milford.

 

[Allo]

I think when a player looks like they actually died (poorly worded I know) with zero acting involved, it's right to stop the game. Joey was fine but Freddy being a Penrith boy was complaining like a twat over it

 

[Bennets love child]

In my opinion once the ball flys away and the injured player has no chance of regathering conscious or not then it's fair game but when someone is unconscious and the ball is right beside him where he would normally be able to collect, the other team should not be able to pick it up and score.... not to mention the health and welfare of the injured player. The ref absolutely made the correct decision!!

 

[Dash]

The correct call was made. Player safety has to take priority. Penrith weren't robbed of a try either. The referee blew the whistle before Penrith made the break and Moga pulled out of the tackle when he heard it.

 

[Super Freak]

Gaz was right about one thing, the refs aren't doctors. So they don't know if Oates was in far worse condition.

Player welfare is important, so stopping play so he can get medical attention was absolutely the correct call. When Macca was knocked out against the Tigers, the refs stopped play immediately so it's not like this is an isolated incident as the refs have done the same several times.

It was an accidental offside anyway so Panthers weren't robbed of a try. The correct procedure in that instance is to restart play with a scrum instead of playing on.