Laying down after a tackle in order to con a penalty out of a referee is not exactly a recent phenomena. It’s been around for a fair while now but there’s a growing concern that there is a lot of the ‘round ball’ game’s antics flowing into rugby league these days. For the purpose of this discussion, let’s consider what we’ve witnessed in the last two rounds.
“Laying down” became a headline grabber after Roosters’ coach Trent Robinson opened up on the Dragons following their ANZAC Day clash, declaring that Dragons players were staying down to get a penalty, potentially through bunker reviews. Undoubtedly, Trent was venting and has been fined for his outburst, which in my opinion really needed to be said. In reality, he probably needs to accept that a couple of the Roosters’ tries shouldn’t have been given due to refereeing errors going their way. Then again, that referee hates them!
Trent Robinson was not happy with the perceived tactics of the Dragons.
Indeed, I had to laugh at Aidan Guerra who this week came out and said that ‘diving’ is a blight on the game and should be punished. Let’s not forget that about 6-7 months ago Aidan turned up to the judiciary and testified that he took a dive to get a penalty out of Justin Hodges. This confession got Justin off so he could play in the Grand Final. Think Aidan’s new nickname is now ‘Gold Fish’.
My motivation in writing this post stems from the actions of Josh Reynolds on Friday night. His “dive” after losing his footing before the Junior Paulo tackle surely qualifies as one of the dumbest acts I’ve ever witnessed on a football field. I’ll expand on this later.
Now so called ‘experts’ say Reynolds plays with passion and that’s why he is like he is on the field. I can give him some credit there as we’ve all seen Josh’s ‘passionate’ game play over the years. Unquestionably, Josh is also an awesome bloke off the field for what he does with schools, community groups and charities. Kudos to Josh.
But please, let’s consider the potential consequences that could and should arise from his actions on Friday night.
It was just plain wrong when he stayed down and pretended to be knocked out after a ‘tap’ on the beak. James Graham signalled straight away to the bench for a trainer as he too thought Josh was out cold. Until we saw the replays, there was a genuine concern for Reynold’s well being.
Junior Paulo made minimal contact with the head of Josh Reynolds.
After receiving treatment, Josh groggily rose to his feet then walked towards the sideline. Incredibly, despite all current head injury protocols, Reynolds then ran back to the line to play on. A minute or so later he was finally summoned from the field (apparently blowing up at the trainers) for a concussion test, yet remained seated on the bench.
Whether this was Des (as the commentators suggested) or any other Bulldogs staff who ultimately made this call, the question must be asked about NRL procedures. We hear endlessly about player welfare and the management of head knocks. What happened to the test?
Has a big can of worms been opened with this act? If Reynolds is using this rule to milk a penalty, like a lot of players do, did he think this through at all?
Obviously not!
Hypothetically, let’s consider a scenario of the game being in the balance when this happened. Under the new NRL rules, evidence of loss of consciousness puts you out of the game straight away. At the very least it puts the player out of the game for ten minutes, certainly significant time at a latter stage of the match. If this was enforced, Reynolds would have left his side without one of their halves for absolutely nothing.
Away from the hypothetical, there should still be a consequence for his actions. If there was no concussion test undertaken, there should be questions asked. Was it because he admitted to faking it? Is this acceptable? Can any players remain on the field if they admit to staying down deliberately?
Conversely, Josh Jackson went down with a knee injury late in the game but was substituted off using the concussion card. What a myriad of issues this is conjuring up!
So, after the calls of Trent Robinson and Aidan Guerra (in his own way) for something to be done about ‘diving’, will the NRL step in and start penalising clubs for exploiting this rule?
Yes it is hard to police it as it is a fine line, but there must be an answer to deter players from laying down and trying to utilise this rule. Is winning much more important than being an ethical player?
There’s another aspect to consider. Surely a quick play the ball is much more effective than laying down to milk a penalty, killing your team’s momentum and destroying any chance of scoring. By laying down, you give the opposition time to form a stronger defensive line, whereas against the quick play the ball, the defensive line isn’t set and holes are there to be exploited. Indeed, how often do we see an attacking error result from that penalty taken against a set defence, further evidence of the loss of opportunity that comes with a stoppage.
Whenever we have new rules there are always coaches trying to find a way of exploiting them. Are coaches telling players to play this way? Or sadly, are players not smart enough to read the game any deeper than milking a penalty?
No matter which, it’s a blight on the game and one certainly highlighted by Reynold’s actions on Friday night.
Colmac
I can’t help but feeling that a bunker call in general play will be a significant factor in a big match this year. I hope not, but it nearly was in today’s game between the Broncos and the Sharks.
The only way to fix this is to name and shame. Trent Barrett went a long way toward that by calling out Jamie Lyon last night.
Trent Barrett called out his own player? Or do you mean Braith Anasta called out Lyon?
Talk about laying down, what about the farcical dive by Lyons? Unfortunately both the ref and the bunker were fooled by this one (when is the bunker not fooled lately?) much like obvious dives in soccer.
Now the big test by Greenberg, will he fine Dogs for not enforcing the concussion rule with Reynolds? I doubt it but would it be different with another team?