WITH the whingeing of coaches already starting up in the distance with the season still two weeks away, the NRL needs to sharpen the penalties on coaches who pillory referees in public comments.
Last year NRL coaches were fined three times for criticism, with the $15,000 for Ricky Stuart's second offence of the season after he slammed the NRL’s refereeing bosses being the largest penalty yet brought down in the League’s eternal quest to get coaches to bite their tongues when talking about referees.
If the NRL want to deter coaches from the sort of criticism which chops and chops at the reputation of referees with the general public, they could hit them where it hurts.
Suspend them for a second offence from coaching their side for a premiership game or two, depending on the content of the complaints.
Control freaks just hate losing a little control.
Some of you will have got this far in the column and be thinking: “The referees get bagged so much because they are hopeless and last year they were worse than ever.’’
Every recent year, we in the media have cause to report on referees being chased around fields by players and parents or being unable to stop a brawl involving junior players and adult spectators which spun out of control.
Every year, refereeing participation numbers are under stress because community attitudes to referees and refereeing are so unforgiving.
A change in attitudes towards referees is only going to start at the top and the 16 head coaches wield singular influence over the agenda in rugby league, partly because they hold at least weekly media conferences.
While $10,000 has been the common fine of coaches, NRL rules already permit sanctions other than fines when coaches continually transgress the rules.
Manly coach Geoff Toovey last month admitted to some displeasure at the timing of a raft of rule changes so close to the pre-season, and at some of the changes, including one which limits the times when captains can speak to referees on the field.
Others were dismayed by a lack of consultation with coaches who are not on the NRL competition committee, which includes Wayne Bennett, Trent Robinson and Tim Sheens.
Toovey, Stuart, Des Hasler and John Cartwright are among the coaches who have over the years most willingly given their opinions about refereeing after games.
Last year, a press conference depicting an eye-popping Toovey became a YouTube classic.
Toovey was fined $10,000 for the NRL found to be “unwarranted attacks on match officials’’ after he complained about a disallowed try and a 10-5 penalty count against Manly in a 12-point loss to South Sydney.
In April, Stuart was fined $10,000 for an expletive-laden tirade against referees Jason Robinson and Adam Gee when his Eels were penalised 8-1 in a four-point loss to Gold Coast.
Two months later, and with Parramatta's season running off the rails, Stuart labelled the 13-6 penalty count against the Eels in a 20-point loss to Souths as a disgrace and claimed most coaches did not agree with the job then referees boss Daniel Anderson was doing. Of the $15,000 fine, $5000 was suspended pending another breach by Stuart, who now coaches Canberra.
Fans, and clubs for that matter, were confused as to why two coaches were fined last year, but Cartwright and Neil Henry, then coach of the Cowboys, were not sanctioned over comments which directly (and emotionally) blamed refereeing decisions for season-ending losses for their clubs.
One reason was that 18 months ago, the NRL told coaches that on top of requirements that they not must question the integrity of match officials or NRL staff they would be sanctioned if they were deemed to have made “excessive criticism''.
That was done to dissuade coaches from talking at what the League feels is excessive length about refereeing at the expense of other match-related matters.
When North Queensland lost a sudden-death final to Cronulla in which a Sharks try on the seventh tackle was allowed, Henry said: “Let's be Sydney-centric. The press keeps talking about a Souths-Roosters grand final. Bring it on.’’
The NRL ruled Henry had not breached any rules because his comments were related to the media rather than constitute direct and prolonged criticism of refereeing, which, it had to be said, had been responsible for one of the most costly and preventable of mistakes.
A recent study of AFL umpires found they believe they are respected by just one in four fans.
It would be interesting to find out the percentage among first grade referees in rugby league, in which many involved in the game or who follow it seem happiest when they are carping about the men with the whistle.
Paul Malone
http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/the-nrl-needs-to-take-a-tougher-stance-on-coaches-who-publicly-criticise-referees/story-e6frf3ou-1226830975089