Cross-Forum-Discussion Cross forum discussion [Round 12, 2021]

[Mark from Brisbane]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Morkel

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The NRL "soft run" has been a staple of the game for 10 years. There is always an agenda or fairytale behind it.

Brisbane and the Cowboys had it in 2015 until the Grand Final when it was decided that everything the Broncos did was an error and JT had to have his Grand Final and Clive Churchill.

Buzz Rothfield exchanged favourable press to the NRL in exchange for a Sharks premiership, even though the Sharks were over the cap for all surrounding seasons except that precise year.

We all saw what happened with the Rabbitohs and then the Roosters with $BW (never have I seen so many blatantly forward passes through the line been waved through by the refs).

I actually remembering watching the Sea Eagles coast to the finals one year (~ mid 2010's, can't remember which year) where they just cruised in to the finals looking like they were doing it easily. Then in the finals they just bombed out completely. They didn't **** the bed, it's just all the field position and the 50/50 calls they had received all year just suddenly stopped, and no matter what they threw at the opposition it was handled with ease. That was the first time I genuinely wondered if the NRL was giving certain teams an easy run. Sometimes it's because the NRL wants them to win, sometimes (it seems in this case) they want some guaranteed cannon-fodder for the finals so their "chosen" team can swat away some poor opposition in their run to the big game.

Well isn’t it refreshing to hear that we aren’t alone here on Silvertails thinking it’s only us who sees this!!

Honestly , much of the last 10 years has been about “ fairytales “ , almost like they sit down and discuss who’s turn it is to get an award.

The Panthers ( whilst acknowledging they are very good ) are next up and the other darlings the Parra Eels won’t be far behind.

Trouble is , it’s manufactured bull**** and most thinking fans can see through it!

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: BeastMode

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Posted on behalf of Silvertails user: Mark from Brisbane

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Honestly you could probably find fault in almost every single tackle, but it’s the subjective nature of this crack down that’s irritating.

As footy fans ( all clubs ) we can see dozens of occasions where a penalty could of applied ( and wasn’t ) and then you get this subjective bull**** where one side gets penalised out of a game whilst the other side ( for 79.45 of an 80.00 game ) are absolutely perfect.

I call absolute and utter bull**** on that.

yeap, it’s a contact sport afterall.

maybe tackles chest height or above can be deemed dangerous and penalised

it’s going the game up significantly which isn’t a bad idea.

everyone is going to have to learn how to tackle low and around the legs... if they cop a knee to the head is the ball carrier penalised???

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: BeastMode

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Posted on behalf of Silvertails user: Mark from Brisbane

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Honestly you could probably find fault in almost every single tackle, but it’s the subjective nature of this crack down that’s irritating.

As footy fans ( all clubs ) we can see dozens of occasions where a penalty could of applied ( and wasn’t ) and then you get this subjective bull**** where one side gets penalised out of a game whilst the other side ( for 79.45 of an 80.00 game ) are absolutely perfect.

I call absolute and utter bull**** on that.

yeap, it’s a contact sport afterall.

maybe tackles chest height or above can be deemed dangerous and penalised

it’s going the game up significantly which isn’t a bad idea.

everyone is going to have to learn how to tackle low and around the legs... if they cop a knee to the head is the ball carrier penalised???

 

[ManEagle]

Posted on behalf of NZWarriors user: AlexM

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I find it strange that the only sinbinning in our game , which arguably cost us the game only warrants a ****ing fine at the judiciary , but contrary conduct against Walsh, which was missed and so was his warrents suspension....
Its just such a ****ed system?

Agree and another in our game, taupau who has retrospectively penalised then binned after video review gets the same grade and fine as Frizel who despite replays wasn't even penalised

It's the inconsistency not the crackdown that p1sses me off

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: jonesy101

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Posted on behalf of Silvertails user: Mark from Brisbane

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Well isn’t it refreshing to hear that we aren’t alone here on Silvertails thinking it’s only us who sees this!!

Honestly , much of the last 10 years has been about “ fairytales “ , almost like they sit down and discuss who’s turn it is to get an award.

The Panthers ( whilst acknowledging they are very good ) are next up and the other darlings the Parra Eels won’t be far behind.

Trouble is , it’s manufactured bull**** and most thinking fans can see through it!

Its great getting the perspective of the weeks games from supporters of other clubs so this shared thread has been awesome.

One thing I often hear about our club on this side of the Tasman is "They would never want a club based in New Zealand winning the premiership." I don't see why that would be the case, as a premiership win for the Warriors would be transformative for rugby league over here and huge competition against the more dominant code - it would be far bigger than a Super Rugby championship. That can only be a good thing for rugby league in general. If there was a deliberate directive to make sure that certain clubs got more favorable outcomes I'm sure we would've had a whistleblower (excuse the pun) by now.

The theory that I subscribe to is the sub-conscious bias that may occur from a teams momentum and the media hype that surrounds it. We've heard a lot for two seasons about Newcastle's resurgence from their years at the very bottom and there is no denying that yesterday's game was season defining for them. Lose and their season was over. Could that along with the parochial crowd have put pressure on the ref? Possibly. Should that happen? Definitely not.

The closest game I can think of in recent memory to what happened yesterday was the Warriors v Eels one in 2019. Parra were on a run of wins at their new well hyped home of Bankwest and there was a very similar penalty count to what unfolded yesterday. The Warriors got a token penalty at the end of the game, yet the Eels were performing two-on-one strips and all sorts of other negative play which was going unpunished.
It was so bizarre that led to our local betting agency voluntarily refunding all lost bets on that game.

While there is no denying it needs improvement and greater consistency as this weekend was a debacle, I'm glad we still have ones that are willing to put their hands up to ref in these times of multiple camera angles resulting in the massive scrutiny etc. I certainly wouldn't be cut out for that sort of pressure.

What I don't want to see is the adjudicating becoming so robotic in order to get the calls 100% right that we have plays getting reviewed by the bunker multiple times well after the incident has occurred. That was painful to watch yesterday and extremely disruptive to the flow of the game.

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Dexter

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Posted on behalf of Silvertails user: The Who

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I've been watching rugby league for 60 years. It has always been a tough sport played by tough and largely skilful men. I loved the non-stop rough'n'tumble.
But now when I watch my team play I am fearful for what every tackle could bring -- not in the way of injury but how the ref will punish them. The better team is no certainty to win these days with the refs having so much power to reduce a team to 12 or fewer players.
Refs are biased/cheating and so are players. Do we want our game to be all about 'gamesmanship'? When your team needs a penalty feign a crusher tackle or a slap across your chops. When you are tired feign a HIA so that your team gets a free interchange. Get your trainers to interrupt the momentum of the match by having the action stopped....
If you can convince me these "initiatives" have improved the sport then I'll shut up and live on my memories of the great spectacles, and players, of the past.

Manly are the last team that should complain about diving for penalties. DCE, Tommy T and the gollywog centre throw themselves at the ground any chance they get.
The Broncos stupidly stay on their feet and try to chase which has cost us 5 tries in the last 3 weeks because we don't dive for obstructions.

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: wizards rage

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Posted on behalf of Silvertails user: Mark from Brisbane

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Well isn’t it refreshing to hear that we aren’t alone here on Silvertails thinking it’s only us who sees this!!

It’s clear and blatant at times. The Warriors have been the most shafted of everyone as a ‘foreign’ team that are just there to make up the numbers.

Ironically there is a new broadcasting deal with Sky TV due to be renegotiated in NZ next year. I think we’re destined to be a top 8 team this year 😉.

They will sign the contract for top dollar while we’re on a high and then look for normal shafting to resume.

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: Noitall

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It’s clear and blatant at times. The Warriors have been the most shafted of everyone as a ‘foreign’ team that are just there to make up the numbers.

Ironically there is a new broadcasting deal with Sky TV due to be renegotiated in NZ next year. I think we’re destined to be a top 8 team this year 😉.

They will sign the contract for top dollar while we’re on a high and then look for normal shafting to resume.

Could be something to your theory. I get a bit tired of how much a ref has such a bearing in games and really can make or break a game. I’m not sure of their pay but since players are under such strict scrutiny, I’d like to see the refs a bit more accountable. Since being dropped to the division down seems to be the punishment a ref suffers for a poor performance, I’d like to see a panel put together that goes over the weekend games and there be an acceptable amount of mistakes the ref can make as mistakes happen, but a panel that takes into consideration the impact of the mistakes to the outcome of the game and the punishment to be dropped, just like a player.

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Morkel

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Posted on behalf of Silvertails user: Mark from Brisbane

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Well isn’t it refreshing to hear that we aren’t alone here on Silvertails thinking it’s only us who sees this!!

Honestly , much of the last 10 years has been about “ fairytales “ , almost like they sit down and discuss who’s turn it is to get an award.

The Panthers ( whilst acknowledging they are very good ) are next up and the other darlings the Parra Eels won’t be far behind.

Trouble is , it’s manufactured bull**** and most thinking fans can see through it!

A lot of us not only believe it to be a "thing", but have discussed the logistics.

A couple of years back they were going to introduce an NFL-style virtual 10-metre line on the broadcast, it was spruiked all off-season, then when the comp started... nothing. No word as to why. One reason, which is bad enough, is that the NRL know the refs are too incompetent to get the 10 accurate. The more sinister answer is that the distance of the defensive line is one tool to manipulate momentum.

The 6-agains are another, removing one ref is one too.

The biggest for me though was the video ref. It kind of got accidentally confirmed that the video ref is communicating and instructing the on-field ref(s) continuously. The logistics of match manipulation would be quite hard with multiple refs and officials having to be "in" on it. But the revelation that the video ref is silently and effectively anonymously instructing the on-field officials means just one lacky can do it all by themselves, and we'll never be able to hear their direction unless it accidentally gets broadcast like they occasionally do. We're talking instructing the refs to shorten/lengthen the 10 (claiming the defence is creeping), that the "momentum is changing" so that they scrutinise ruck infringements more for one team, as well as instructing the refs to focus on certain players more closely as they are more likely to infringe (a self-fulfilling prophecy, as inevitably all players get a little loose, but only some get pinged). Which leads to grubby players like JWH getting a free run as opposed to another player for a non-darling team earning a rep as a dirty player, being over-scrutinised, and penalised and eventually suspended with compounding carry-overs and loading. It happened to Blair when he was killing it for us (and it neutered him), and with TPJ for the last couple of years.

 

[Jerry1]

Very pleased it wasn’t just my one eyed view of this either.

Although if you watched the game ( you as in the collective you) it would be hard to see that it wasn’t very very biased.

The crackdown I get !!

The fact that some of our players deserved to be penalised I get!!

But come on, the other team are perfect angels.

Yeah, and Elvis is still singing in some little pub somewhere in Tennessee but no one knows too.

Elvis is working at Narrabeen fish bar mate…

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: wizards rage

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Could be something to your theory. I get a bit tired of how much a ref has such a bearing in games and really can make or break a game. I’m not sure of their pay but since players are under such strict scrutiny, I’d like to see the refs a bit more accountable. Since being dropped to the division down seems to be the punishment a ref suffers for a poor performance, I’d like to see a panel put together that goes over the weekend games and there be an acceptable amount of mistakes the ref can make as mistakes happen, but a panel that takes into consideration the impact of the mistakes to the outcome of the game and the punishment to be dropped, just like a player.

If you want to have the refs favouring teams, the first thing you would do is make a blanket rule that nobody criticising the refs - and hammer everyone that does it to wipe out any debate.

Nothing to see here...

I tracked penalty counts a few years ago for Warriors games. The bias is there if anyone did a proper study.

It’s obvious the refs favour the teams that are behind with 50/50 calls and try to make the contest closer. This is a natural and I even did it myself when I have reffed. But its another thing to favour a result from the kickoff in a professional competition with betting on it...

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Morkel

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Posted on NZWarriors user: wizards rage

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If you want to have the refs favouring teams, the first thing you would do is make a blanket rule that nobody criticising the refs - and hammer everyone that does it to wipe out any debate.

Nothing to see here...

I tracked penalty counts a few years ago for Warriors games. The bias is there if anyone did a proper study.

It’s obvious the refs favour the teams that are behind with 50/50 calls and try to make the contest closer. This is a natural and I even did it myself when I have reffed. But its another thing to favour a result from the kickoff in a professional competition with betting on it...

Exactly. We also proved that "Penalty Broncos" is a lie and that we have lost something like 14 of the last 15 years of penalty counts.

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: jonesy101

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Did anyone see On NRL 360 tonight Kenty justify his incoherent rant against Clint Newton by saying he didn't want to be talked to like a child, then proceed to scream like a child over anyone that tried to clarify the RLPAs position? I cant see that golf club Ikin passes around lasting the season.

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: jonesy101

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Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Morkel

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A lot of us not only believe it to be a "thing", but have discussed the logistics.

A couple of years back they were going to introduce an NFL-style virtual 10-metre line on the broadcast, it was spruiked all off-season, then when the comp started... nothing. No word as to why. One reason, which is bad enough, is that the NRL know the refs are too incompetent to get the 10 accurate. The more sinister answer is that the distance of the defensive line is one tool to manipulate momentum.

The 6-agains are another, removing one ref is one too.

The biggest for me though was the video ref. It kind of got accidentally confirmed that the video ref is communicating and instructing the on-field ref(s) continuously. The logistics of match manipulation would be quite hard with multiple refs and officials having to be "in" on it. But the revelation that the video ref is silently and effectively anonymously instructing the on-field officials means just one lacky can do it all by themselves, and we'll never be able to hear their direction unless it accidentally gets broadcast like they occasionally do. We're talking instructing the refs to shorten/lengthen the 10 (claiming the defence is creeping), that the "momentum is changing" so that they scrutinise ruck infringements more for one team, as well as instructing the refs to focus on certain players more closely as they are more likely to infringe (a self-fulfilling prophecy, as inevitably all players get a little loose, but only some get pinged). Which leads to grubby players like JWH getting a free run as opposed to another player for a non-darling team earning a rep as a dirty player, being over-scrutinised, and penalised and eventually suspended with compounding carry-overs and loading. It happened to Blair when he was killing it for us (and it neutered him), and with TPJ for the last couple of years.

So we seriously have someone from the bunker passing on instructions like "we need more cowbell"?

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Sproj

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Posted on NZWarriors user: jonesy101

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Did anyone see On NRL 360 tonight Kenty justify his incoherent rant against Clint Newton by saying he didn't want to be talked to like a child, then proceed to scream like a child over anyone that tried to clarify the RLPAs position? I cant see that golf club Ikin passes around lasting the season.

Kent has 0 credibility. Fox would be so much the better for removing him and Hooper, get some good journalists on there and at least ones even like Rothfield who while not always right, don't scream and shout down everyone else.

Hooper's Keyboard Warriahs was absolutely unprofessional and potentially alienating, pathetic but then, him and Kent are experts at trash.

 

[NZWarriors.com]

Posted on NZWarriors user: Wrighty

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Did anyone see on NRL 360 tonight Kenty justify his incoherent rant against Clint Newton by saying he didn't want to be talked to like a child, then proceed to scream like a child over anyone that tried to clarify the RLPAs position? I cant see that golf club Ikin passes around lasting the season.

Hasn't Paul Kent fallen out with 3 or 4 people in league that he isn't talking to any more?

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: mrslong

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I’d like to see Lara hosting 360, she is respectful, knows and lives footy, and is a decent journalist.

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Kimlo

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I’d like to see Lara hosting 360, she is respectful, knows and lives footy, and is a decent journalist.

+1. She's also not a suck arse. She'll call games **** when they are.

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Foordy

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Kent has 0 credibility. Fox would be so much the better for removing him and Hooper, get some good journalists on there and at least ones even like Rothfield who while not always right, don't scream and shout down everyone else.

Hooper's Keyboard Warriahs was absolutely unprofessional and potentially alienating, pathetic but then, him and Kent are experts at trash.

here's the flaw in your argument

 

[BroncosHQ.com]

Posted on behalf of BroncosHQ.com user: Morkel

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Posted on NZWarriors user: jonesy101

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So we seriously have someone from the bunker passing on instructions like "we need more cowbell"?

Moar. MOAR COWBELL.