NRL great PAUL GALLEN will appear on Nine’s 100% FOOTY every Monday night of the NRL season, debating rugby league’s hottest topics alongside Phil Gould and James Bracey. Tune in tonight at 10.30pm (AEST) following a bumper round 17!
The NRL is constantly looking for ways to bring fatigue back into the game, but one decision has actually had the opposite effect.
The new Bunker system, where the referee awards a try and then it’s checked by the video official, is ridiculous and a massive waste of time.
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It isn’t a big issue every weekend but across round 17 there were a number of times I was left scratching my head, as fans and players stood around doing the same.
We should go back to the old system where if the on-field referee doesn’t know for certain, he refers it to the Bunker.
The referees are too scared to rule no-try now because they know if they just award it, then the Bunker will check it out anyway and can overturn it.
I know the NRL made the change to help fan experience, so a try can be celebrated straight away rather than wait for a video decision.
But surely the system isn’t any better if a try is awarded, they spend a minute or so celebrating, only for the Bunker to come over the top and take it off them anyway.
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Now we are stopping a game for three or four minutes after a try has been awarded. It completely takes fatigue out of the contest because players these days are so fit, they can recover fully in that time.
One of the great new gadgets on Nine’s coverage this year has been the clock showing viewers how long the ball has been in play for.
Bunker stops Walsh try
Sometimes it gets up to five or six minutes at a time, which is great because that brings real fatigue in and that’s a major factor in professional football.
But if we’re stopping for several minutes every time the referee gives a try, it defeats the purpose of what the NRL is trying to do.
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WHAT’S WRONG WITH LUAI REACTION
When I first saw the Jarome Luai Instagram post last week my initial reaction was, ‘oh no’.
But when I heard it was in response to death threats over social media, his actions made more sense to me.
Social media is a coward’s castle and some of the stuff people get away with posting on there is disgusting.
Fittler defends Luai over social media post
I cop my fair share of idiots sending abuse, but I just laugh at it and walk away. Nothing good comes from responding to those trolls because that’s what they want, any kind of reaction.
But for younger players today I can understand why they feel the need to react.
Think about it – young footballers are taught to compete in everything. So when they are challenged in any way – even by cowards on social media – their instinct is to hit back.
I’m not saying it’s the right thing to do, and I reckon Luai will learn from this and probably decide to not post anything next time.
It’s easy to tell players to not read comments or messages, but they all do, trust me.
The better advice would be to read it – if you have to – but just laugh it off and walk away. Give Jarome another couple of years and I reckon he will be doing just that.
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