NEWS Wendell Sailor: "No-One Fears Them"

[mstreet]

The rule is supposed to be "when the ball clears the ruck", but the NRL have given up trying to get meatheads playing it properly (put ball on ground, roll it backwards with foot). I think the most recent interpretation was when the ball is touched with their foot. Which causes even more issues as so many players don't even use their foot (as long as they move their foot a bit in the air it's classed as an "attempt"). So most defensive lines move up as soon as the player begins the motion to put the ball on the ground. So, yeah, more grey areas to exploit for when they want to ping players for "going early" in defence.

What's to stop a player starting the motion not putting it to ground, stopping and calling out the offside?

 

[MrTickyMcG]

What's to stop a player starting the motion not putting it to ground, stopping and calling out the offside?

TPJ does this a few times a game and the refs don’t let them get away with it. Used to annoy the heck out of me at the Broncos

 

[Bigbucky]

God I miss tunza. The chin was the last thing youd want to see before you catch the ball

 

[Morkel]

What's to stop a player starting the motion not putting it to ground, stopping and calling out the offside?

The ref calls it baulking (which means exactly what you described) and tells the player to play it properly.

But yeah, I have thought the same thing, you can pretend to pass the ball and dummy and run, why can't you feign to play the ball but not, in order to catch the opposition out? It would absolutely assure that defensive lines don't leave early.

 

[1910]

we actually do have someone like Sailor describes ... but every time he plays with a touch of aggression he gets reported and suspended, thanks to referee/NRL tip sheets

Flegler doesn't have the technique that good hitters have- he's aggressive but coaches have worked on his technique since MM. I remember he got sent off playing for Souths in ISC before he'd even played NRL and it's always the same thing- feet in wrong position and coming from high to low.

Players were always taught low to high but they've lost that now because they're coached to hold on and get numbers in to the tackle.

Flegler is caught between the two and ends up making mistakes.

 

[1910]

I also think Kobe Hetherington stings in defence and he's going about his work very quietly. So quiet in fact Dell has missed his contributions. And then we also have heard how stinging Piakura's defence can be so it will be nice to see him finally get an extended run from the bench to shake opposition forwards up.

But yeh, Flegler has been nullified to a certain degree but I'm sure he'll work out a way to stay relevant in the enforcer stakes.

So good onya Dell this sort of criticism works on two fronts. it lulls the opposition into a false sense of security and it spurs our guys onto greater efforts.

I just wish the refs would adopt Dell's tip sheet.

Hetherington is the best hitter at the Broncos.

 

[LittleDavey]

Poor Flegler, I feel for the bloke. And when you look at the inconsistencies, it's ridiculous.

This shoulder to the head in the trials was worth a sin bin and a week on the sidelines:

This from last week was only worth 1 week also, but no bin:

Yet this from Flegs in Round 19 last year cost him a bin and 2 weeks on the sidelines:

And THIS from Fleg...I mean, Sitili (because Flegler did nothing wrong here, this is the highest and worst point of contact in this incident) cost us that game against the Roosters in Round 21 last year:

Yet this shoulder of his in Round 24 was the one which got him binned and FOUR weeks:

 

[LittleDavey]

...yet this incident in the same game went completely unpunished, not even a penalty, and old mate copped a fine...portents of the weekend coming, I suppose...

 

[LittleDavey]

Now onto hip drops. Compare and contrast Flegler's from Round 4. This one was worth a penalty and a fine despite poor Flegler actively avoiding the legs:

And this one he got binned for and fined even though he stays up around the hips when old mate gets bent back over him through no fault of his:

These are a symptom of the refs not calling held quickly enough IMO, with two guys not enough to bring another down, the third man in has nowhere to grab. Either outlaw the 3rd tackler or call held earlier, and these won't happen - same as cannonballs etc. All a symptom of the bigger problem.

 

[LittleDavey]

Compare and contrast with Cleary on Walters 2 rounds later. We didn't even get a penalty for this, and he only copped a fine after the fact. Also keeping in mind he and Walters were both standing and fighting until he threw the leg out...

I realise consistency is difficult in this sport. But this is *AFTER* an overhaul of the system? And this was in just 20 minutes of searching/screenshotting, of events I've remembered this season.

 

[kman]

If Flegler can get his tackling technique right and Hethrington keeps evolving his game then they will be feared on the field.

 

[LittleDavey]

Also forgot to mention on the Sitili incident, it was also so innocuous that it was missed live, and Teddy "Captain's Challenge" 'd it because their player knocked on in the play-the-ball. Which as we found out a few weeks ago, we're not allowed to do, we're only allowed to challenge an actual decision made, not something they missed.

But it's all fair and there's no bias, subconscious or otherwise.

 

[Big Pete]

And this one he got binned for and fined even though he stays up around the hips when old mate gets bent back over him through no fault of his:

Flegler wasn't binned for the hip drop, he was binned for the late tackle on Fonua-Blake which is a whole other kettle of fish.

 

[LittleDavey]

Flegler wasn't binned for the hip drop, he was binned for the late tackle on Fonua-Blake which is a whole other kettle of fish.

He got binned for both, Pete. This is the binning the forum was blowing up about in the game threads. He got binned AND suspended for the Fonua-Blake tackle, as he rightly should've. But there was nothing in this. It came fast on the back of a "late" hit which wasn't really late.

 

[Skathen]

Problem you can see here @LittleDavey is that the players are clearly playing for the wrong clubs. Bulldogs get smashed by these calls too as do a couple of other clubs. They can only do wrong.

Then there are clubs like Storm, Sharks, Roosters (except Radley - no idea why he alone gets punished), Panthers who basically escape penalties, sin bins and suspensions pretty damn consistently. Even when they are charged like JWH has been many times, their lawyer gets them off. It's a total farce.

 

[Lockysillegitimatechild]

Compare and contrast with Cleary on Walters 2 rounds later. We didn't even get a penalty for this, and he only copped a fine after the fact. Also keeping in mind he and Walters were both standing and fighting until he threw the leg out...
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I realise consistency is difficult in this sport. But this is *AFTER* an overhaul of the system? And this was in just 20 minutes of searching/screenshotting, of events I've remembered this season.

Send all these onto the media and nrl threatening you'll send it onto the media... we gotta keep the pressure on these fuckwits, enough is enough

 

[Big Pete]

He got binned for both, Pete. This is the binning the forum was blowing up about in the game threads. He got binned AND suspended for the Fonua-Blake tackle, as he rightly should've. But there was nothing in this. It came fast on the back of a "late" hit which wasn't really late.

The referee specifically said it was for the late hit.

 

[LittleDavey]

The referee specifically said it was for the late hit.

My mistake - though the "late" hit was absolutely marginal and there's more-delayed hits let go weekly. He did get fined for the legs tackle.