SPORT CDRL in defence of coach time-out

NRL’s video bunker set to change the game

THE CDRL has been forced to defend its judicial process amid claims of bias from a player banned last year for abusing a teenage referee who has since quit officiating.

The leniency of the 10-week suspension handed out to Edmonton coach Cameron Miller last week raised eyebrows in the rugby league community.

The Storm boss was found guilty of contrary conduct after being reported for abusing a match official during and after the Round 9 clash with Ivanhoes at Petersen Park.

Despite an existing threeyear suspended sentence for a similar offence hanging over his head, Miller will be allowed to continue coaching the Storm but cannot sit on the bench during matches until Round 22.

His suspended sentence was also extended to five years.

CDRL operations manager Pat Bailey defended the sixperson judiciary panel that convened over the Miller case.

“Every case is judged on its merits,” she said.

“But there was no threat of physical violence from Cameron Miller.”

Two prominent first grade players have aired their views on social media, one saying he is “absolutely disgusted” over the length of the ban handed down to Miller.

There is also an outcry from a reserve grade player from Yarrabah who was found guilty of threatening to hurt a teenage referee last season and is serving a four-year ban.

The incident occurred in a match at Atherton in June and the player has since exhausted the appeals process after going to the highest level.

The player was found to have followed match officials to their dressing sheds and sworn at them despite being warned to “walk away”.

The young referee has since quit officiating the game.

“I think it’s really unfair,” the player said of his ban.

“I’m not here to cause trouble but I just want justice.

“I’m getting four years and another man gets 10 weeks “So what is the difference? “They could have just given me that three years probation as well.”

Seahawks officials will not speak publicly on the matter and the player is acting on his own behalf.

“They took all these things away from me and it was pretty harsh,” the player said.

“It was really tough on me because I loved footy and was playing, coaching and refereeing for so long.’’

The Yarrabah player’s suspension means, like Miller, he is allowed to attend games but cannot go near the field or players. THE NRL is only two months away from rubberstamping the most significant series of changes to the game since the introduction of the video referee almost 20 years ago.

On the verge of finalising a report into a 12-match trial of the same video referee bunker technology used in the NBA, the NRL believes fans will ultimately benefit from the multimillion-dollar, ninecamera-angle central command centre, which would be a first for Australian sport.

Quicker and more accurate decisions, ‘‘live in-game’’ rulings via the introduction of a captain’s challenge or coach’s call, charges laid by the match review committee after every match and an increase in revenue from an enhanced broadcast deal are all feasible if the bunker system goes forward.

NRL head of football Todd Greenberg, alongside consultant and digital expert Stuart Taggart, is in charge of overseeing the bunker system trial, which he hopes to present to the ARL Commission in August.

Greenberg described the bunker technology as one of the greatest innovations the game has seen.

“We think this is a gamechanger for rugby league and sport potentially in this