NRL backs referees over sin bin controversy
NRL head of football Graham Annesley has defended his match officials after another round of controversy erupted over the use of the sin bin.
In the wake of superstar Sam Burgess escaping punishment for his sickening high shot that rattled Matt Moylan the previous week, many fans were dumbfounded to see young Wests Tigers forward Luke Garner and Canterbury’s unheralded Chris Smith dismissed for relatively minor incidents on Saturday night.
Garner’s shot on Lachlan Lewis and Smith’s on Ryan Matterson were considerably less severe than Burgess’s hit that left Moylan heavily concussed and unable to play on the weekend. Garner and Smith were hit with grade one dangerous contact charges by the NRL’s match review committee yesterday but they will escape suspension with an early guilty plea.
There was also debate about whether Kalyn Ponga’s try-saving tackle on Clint Gutherson was a shoulder charge despite it being ruled legal on the field and no charges laid by the match review committee.
Annesley denied what happened at ANZ Stadium in respect to the Garner and Smith tackles was a knee-jerk reaction to the outrage that followed the Burgess blow-up.
Annesley was also adamant that just because there might be a perceived error made in one game, it doesn’t mean other referees should repeat the error in another game.
“Clubs were warned about contact on players not in possession of the ball several weeks ago,” Annesley said.
“People can argue about the individual incidents and they can talk about inconsistency. But that doesn’t necessarily make the two incidents (on Saturday night) wrong.”