The Corey Oates Incident

[Battler]

So would it have been ok for the Storm to have picked up the ball and kept playing after McKinnon was lying on the ground screaming? Let the video ref decide because it wasn't penalised in real time.

Common sense and player welfare prevailed with Oates.

 

[holdzy]

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.

A bit of optimism probably with the first comment, a little disingenuous with the last one.

 

[Sproj]

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

I could be wrong, but I don't remember Fittler 'complaining like a twat over it'. I'm pretty sure he put the question to the other commentators, got shot down and let it go.

 

[Allo]

I could be wrong, but I don't remember Fittler 'complaining like a twat over it'. I'm pretty sure he put the question to the other commentators, got shot down and let it go.

Maybe not to a bad degree, but I could still hear that whiny bias in his voice which annoyed me. Like think about the situation first or preface it with 'i understand player safety etc etc'

 

[Broncapz]

Penrith did NOTHING to influence the dropped ball. If Oates was awake, he would have regathered the ball - scrum. Theres no way in the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play that should have been a try, and that's before we even get to player welfare.

 

[FGfrom50]

I hate watching injuries, so I won't be going back to have another look to confirm what I'm saying here. But it seemed to me that the ref blew his whistle to stop play very quickly, well before the Penrith players had made that break down field. For him to have blown his whistle that quickly, he must have made his decision to stop play within a second or so of Oates hitting the ground. At that time, Oates was out cold laying next to the ball, undeniably a dangerous position on the field. Stopping play is 100% the right call.

In addition to that, Penrith ran 10m or so and threw a pass after the whistle had been blown, which made it look like they were in for a try. If they'd stopped at the time the whistle was blown (and I don't blame them for picking it up and running, it's a footballer's instinct when they see a loose ball) I doubt we'd even be having this discussion. Play really was stopped very quickly.

 

[Dash]

I hate watching injuries, so I won't be going back to have another look to confirm what I'm saying here. But it seemed to me that the ref blew his whistle to stop play very quickly, well before the Penrith players had made that break down field. For him to have blown his whistle that quickly, he must have made his decision to stop play within a second or so of Oates hitting the ground. At that time, Oates was out cold laying next to the ball, undeniably a dangerous position on the field. Stopping play is 100% the right call.

In addition to that, Penrith ran 10m or so and threw a pass after the whistle had been blown, which made it look like they were in for a try. If they'd stopped at the time the whistle was blown (and I don't blame them for picking it up and running, it's a footballer's instinct when they see a loose ball) I doubt we'd even be having this discussion. Play really was stopped very quickly.

Your correct, he blew the whistling almost straight away, before Penrith had taken off down field.

 

[dasherhalo]

I could be wrong, but I don't remember Fittler 'complaining like a twat over it'. I'm pretty sure he put the question to the other commentators, got shot down and let it go.

Oh yeah he did. Had our entire lounge room shouting at the TV.

One eyed git. Have a whinge about the ruling AFTER the bloke moves - not while he's on the ground, and we can't even tell if he's breathing. There's a way to make a point and still act like a human being!

 

[1910]

I haven't checked with any ref mates but my understanding was judgement was needed.

Is the injury near the play? Stop.
Is it serious in your opinion? Stop and get him help.

It's not too hard.

 

[BroncsFan]

You know as well if it was the reverse the same media would be blowing up about broncos unsportsmanlike conduct for trying to take advantage when a player has clearly been hurt.

It was a poor display that they tried to play on given the impact.... seriously can't believe the media beat up this is getting. It was 20 mins into the game FFS

 

[tommy]

You know as well if it was the reverse the same media would be blowing up about broncos unsportsmanlike conduct for trying to take advantage when a player has clearly been hurt.

It was a poor display that they tried to play on given the impact.... seriously can't believe the media beat up this is getting. It was 20 mins into the game FFS

Had a look at LU's opinion this morning. It's about 50/50 on there which never happens on decisions regarding the Broncs. To me that's undeniable proof that the refs got it right.

 

[Super Freak]

I'll give the Panthers players the benefit of the doubt.

It's drilled into them every day of the year to take advantage of any loose balls.

Last night, with the adrenaline pumping and being behind on the scoreboard, instinct would have likely kicked in.

 

[jarro65]

I haven't checked with any ref mates but my understanding was judgement was needed.

Is the injury near the play? Stop.
Is it serious in your opinion? Stop and get him help.

It's not too hard.

Doesn't the accidental offside make the call for them though ?

 

[Mister Wright]

It's all about the look of the game. If the Panthers players are all celebrating in the in goal while Oates is being stretchered off it doesn't look good for the game. If he had of got to his feet or showed signs he was ok then I guess it doesn't look as bad. A bit tough for commentators to bag the refs. Before they even make a decision the first consideration always has to be for player safety.

 

[Mitchell_Broncos]

Looks like oatesy thinks hes going to be good to play next week. Did anyone see his Instagram Post

 

[Kyall]

I watched the highlights on nrl.com app and it has the Oates incident on it. When he's on the ground he actually had his hand on the ball after he dropped it and so straight up held there.

 

[Sasquatch]

I reckon when he lost it forward it touched Milford in front of him which should of be the end of the play anyway. Restart should of been a penalty to panthers for accidental offside

 

[broncsgoat]

I think we were lucky they stopped the play.

I said when it happened it should have been play on and nothing I've seen since has changed my opinion.

Obviously in the minority