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The Tip Sheet fires up this week as Sixties, Forty20 and Clint unload on the NRL greenlighting an incredibly dangerous chest slam tackle technique. The fallout from Graham Annesley’s Round 23 debrief continues with Annesley’s declaration that Clinton Gutherson had clear intent to strip the ball in his try saving tackle on Jacob Liddle.
The boys don’t hold back as they unload on the wildly inconsistent directives the officials operate under and the bizarre mixed messages the NRL is sending on concussion safety.
Brad Arthur has tweaked his left edge again ahead of the critical game against the Brisbane Broncos and the show looks at how the new look left side shapes up. In the NRLW space, Rachael Pearson and Elsie Albert are finally back but Kennedy Cherrington will miss the next month after copping a 4-game suspension for a dangerous throw.
The NRL and RLPA have put aside hostilities for the moment to enter negotiations once again…can they find common ground? Corey Horsburgh has a shiny new deal while Payne Haas is chasing market re-setting money. The boys look at who will be better value and what Haas should be considering as he looks for a monster contract.
Before I listen to this, I am stunned that Annesley and the MRC do not deem the Lomax tackle either excessive or dangerous. Even if the downward force is more centred on the back, haven’t they heard of whiplash…the threat to the head is not diminished. If Lomax exerts downward force but releases before ground contact, that’s not as bad, but if he grips and exerts force til contact well that’s dangerous. He’d probably say that a pass could be slipped away, so it’s up to the MRC to study the application of force and make a call. That tackle had plenty of force,he gripped and slammed til ground contact, and also from a high start point. Annesley should be saying why it’s dangerous, and if he thinks it was low risk, say why it’s potentially dangerous. Endorsing it is bizarre.
That was made right in front of where I was sitting. It was one of the more violent tackles I have seen since the Kaufusi tackle on Matterson.
It was clearly done with intent.
It was awful John, from a player with a tr@ck record.
BDon, I’m done with his press conferences. His selective group of decisions that he talks about. There are a host of wrong calls every week, and we know that referees will make errors. The thing is, calls like the ones he discusses from the Eels vs Dragons game would leave referees confused. And worst of all, his call on the Lomax tackle is endorsing deliberate, dangerous play.
The Lomax tackle was terrible – deliberate head slam. Potentially much more damaging than some that get sin binned. I think sometimes it seems to be based on the player ( and size of the player) who does it – Luai got off for something that bigger players get sent off for; If the head slam was by Junior on Ben Hunt what would have been the outcome. The inconsistency is incredible
BDon later in the second half. I think that the Eels playing the ball, referee calling the Dragons back to the mark, most get back however before the ball is played almost all of the team is offside again.
The referee turned his back on the defenders and watched the ball being played. No whistle.
Great podcast yet again enjoyed it fully.
Not much to add however the Cowboys showed the fallacy of signing middle forwards to long excessive contracts.
JT was signed for $1mil per year for 10 years. For a couple of years now he has not been in the form that won him such a large contract.
Not saying that Haas will be signed for 10 years but raising a longish term as an issue. Two years maybe three tops.Further it is a statistical fact that Middles are at the upper end of Rugby League injuries.
But one of my biggest gripes of all, why would you pay top money for someone who is not playing 80 minutes. You made the suggestion rightly that for the same money they could sign marginally lesser players and get a full 80 minute game plus some.
On the Matilda’s I heard on a news programme that the game on Monday night was the biggest rating television show of the year.
Absolutely spot on John about the money to players who frequently just play between 40 and 50 minutes. The money that Parra pay our bookends is top coin. Imagine paying out nearly double their deals for one player!
Sixties, I find the biggest turn-off about NRL to be wild ambiguities and inconsistencies. TCT has already summed up a lot of those, including the draw scheduling for this year. It makes me think that the NRL is making things up as they go, depending on what the next political hot potato is. Remember the wild weekend of sin-bins during the magic round not long ago? These mixed messages and fluctuations don’t fill me with a love for the powers-that-be. I find it all a bit insane, and as a rugby league fan, I find it terrible!
Annesly is simply doing a job as a spin doctor , i dont think anyone gives anything he says credibility , the refs look after their own always have always will .its like the milat family being on ivans jury .
Annesly is simply doing a job as a spin doctor , i dont think anyone gives anything he says credibility , the refs look after their own always have always will .its like the milat family being on ivans jury .
Annesly is simply doing a job as a spin doctor , i dont think anyone gives anything he says credibility , the refs look after their own always have always will .its like the milat family being on ivans jury .
I think that they are very much in line with commentators
Agreed
If the rule is to protect the head of players then we are not seeing this enforced.
Luai’s was careless and reckless. If Nelson had done this he would be out for 3-4 wks.
Lomax, again was careless and reckless.
The root cause of the ref issues is lack of leadership in the NRL (PVL is detrimental to the game) and the malign influence of Fox and Nine. The sad thing is that the lack of vision from the NRL and the clubs mean nothing really is going to change. We are going to be stuck with dodgy draws and dodgy refs until the game is invariably shut down because of too many CTE cases. Speaking of CTE, you can’t have an understandable crack down on head injuries with sections of the media crying out the game is too soft.