The niggle...causing refs to lose control

[Killer03]

Tonights SOO to me showed that the 'no punch' edict is causing certain games (especially SOO) to be dominated with niggle which seems to have the refs losing control.

Personally I thought tonight needed a one-off punch fest to calm everyone down and get on with the game. But because no-one was prepared to throw a punch the tensions just simmered and simmered the entire game and resulted in constant niggle and little half hits. ie Thurston forearming Reynolds, and there were constant things like that from both sides all night.

SOO is one arena that just needs the powder keg to explode and get it out of their system.

 

[Masked Eagle]

I was thinking the exact same thing. A punch up in the first five minutes and then we probably have a cracking game. Instead it was an 80 minute niggle-thon and not a patch on the outstanding game that was the first origin fixture.

 

[StuBoot]

Thanks for the thread Killer.
I was getting in the sh!t for saying the same.
"If only he could punch him in the head, we can get on with it"
and had a few that agreed with me and few more that didn't.
FFS it turns the game into a niggle/grapple/forearm/elbow/knee/choke - is there anything I've missed - athon.
Neither team played to win, they played not to lose and a bit of old fashioned uponemanship was lost.
A game that was there to be taken but they both went through the motions .
PS - What actually constitutes a punch?

 

[Snake]

The thing I don't understand, is why the referees change the rules for Origin to make it a better spectacle; OK fair enough, but then why can't we have that better spectacle every week in the NRL? So many penalties were let go tonight (Gallen's high shot on Slater in the first half for eg.). I'd be happy for them to turn a blind eye to the dirty business at club level rather than have the refs blow the pea out of the whistle.

I'm fed up with how pedantic the referees are today in the NRL. There are too many rules, too many interpretations, and too many indiscretions that spoil the fans enjoyment of the game, and all because of ****ing whinging in newspapers.

 

[rifraff]

If Shayne Hayne does not ref the manly rorters game the Nrl are totally admitting bias in the gf.. The supposed number one ref not officiating a top of the table clash..

Early in the season there was penalties galore, up to twenty or so a match. I think the refs were told to tone it down so wankers like me wouldn't complain about penalty counts.

 

[globaleagle]

what's the rule about slapping?


thurston slapped some nsw'man in the face (lightly) nd that's ok


so how hard can you slap someone before it's deemed a punch?

slapping is awesome.....all the pain with no broken bones!!! #honeymoon

 

[Budgie]

I believe the decision to outlaw punches came from a reaction to the people getting killed by one punch on the street. I think the NRL simply deemed it 'not a good look'. The ridiculous thing is if you lifted a person and drove him into the ground or held your forearm across some poor bastard's throat with as much power as you could muster, these too may kill. So the punch thing is just PR nonsense. Yes I know boys have been killed in the street, but the consensus seems to be that it is the falling on the pavement that generally does the damage. I abhor violence in life but I don't think drunks in the street are punching because they see footballers doing it. The rule is rubbish.

 

[Alan]

what's the rule about slapping?


thurston slapped some nsw'man in the face (lightly) nd that's ok


so how hard can you slap someone before it's deemed a punch?

slapping is awesome.....all the pain with no broken bones!!! #honeymoon

If you can slap an opponent, and get your team mate blamed then under "the 3 stooges rule" there is no penalty.

In the AFL however, they are more experienced with the slap and it is a 6 week suspension. Pinching however is permitted but gripping (as in squirrel) isn't.

Melbourne storm have reportedly sought the assistance of two experts to assist at training. One, an ex girlfriend of Manly supporter GE, and the other a well known star of the Addam's Family.

 

[HappilyManly]

This is where we are heading :dodgy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHsg6Bb02L4

 

[Eagles2nv]

I agree, I think the fact they couldn't meant they took there frustrations out int other ways.

A lot of stupid things like punching, elbows and even a headbutt occurred, just because they couldn't fight.

It made for alot of petty actions by the players. It was almost primary schoolesque.

 

[globaleagle]

I had a girlfriend?

@alan

 

[HappilyManly]

Alan does not understand your bear fetish yet 😛

 

[globaleagle]

Alan does not understand your bear fetish yet 😛

Do the washing!
Clean the kitchen!
Sweep the floors!
Wash the car!
Collect the firewood!

 

[Alan]

That bear would make a dentist wish he was a proctologist.

 

[EagleFromMay1967]

Yeah, not a bad thread. The pic is somehow familiar to me.
You forgot "Mow the lawn - NOW !", and "help the kids with their homework", and "Did you fix the leaky bathroom yet ? and could have sworn i asked you to pay that electricity bill ! @"

But getting back to the issue, I like the thread, but think you've got it the wrong way around. The niggle magnified itself because the wimpy scaredy cat referees refused to clamp down on it. The niggle didn't cause them to lose control - they lost control because they are incompetent. If they had put someone in the bin early, then it would have put a stop to it. Prime candidate for this would be Cam Smith, who now reminds me of a silly old woman arguing over the back fence. Jeez i hate hate him. Time wasting, slowing all down, he's effing blight on the game. I dont know who is worse : ScumSmith or Shame Pain who is another blight on Rugby League. He is NSW cup standard, JUST.

The Refs are rubbish this year. Last year as well. There has been a really infuriating loss of refereeing standards since two referees were introduced. But not sure that in itself is the only reason.

 

[niccipops]

The niggle ruined the game last night. IMO it was over the top almost to the point of bad sportsmanship by both teams.
I thought Qld were particularly dirty but maybe that's because I was cheering the blues.:s
The emotion showed by the blues in victory was the best of the TV coverage because the game itself was pretty disappointing.
Maybe Origin needs an image change and I think the each State should calm down on the media slander.
Glad the Blues won though.🙂 Over the Maroons big time.
Cherry seemed to run well which is great news for Manly.

 

[Brookie Brawler]

Maybe Im in the minority thinking that professional footballers shouldn't expect to be punched while playing football in 2014. Nor should they be copping or dishing out that rubbish we saw last night.

The thing about the "no punching" edict is that punching was always against the rules and a sin-binnable offence (at the refs discretion).

As far as I am aware, forearms, grapple tackles, head butts repeated ruck infringements and even slapping are also against the rules and the bin csn be used for these.

Refs should have taken action early in the game.

There were plenty of chances last night to send someone - or even one player from each team - to the bin for illegal play and put everyone else on notice. The problem is if the players call their bluff its a no win for the ref. They either get bagged for losing control and binning too many players or bagged for being too weak and inconsistent. They are more likely to get dropped if they err on the side of overreaction so they just let it go.

 

[RiverEagle]

I echoed your thoughts in the Origin thread Killer.

And I do feel the new no-punching edict has strangely had a negative impact.

I'm in no way promoting lawlessness, but all that niggle went on and on largely because the players knew they could do it with impunity and not suffer the same fate as Myles did (from Gallen last year).

And if anyone got sin-binned for 99% of what went on last night, it would get howled down and we'd be laughed at like soccer, for example.

It was petty and embarrassing what grown men were reduced to (eg. Thurston's slap!)

So it went on all game as each side tried to assert their authority and harness their animosity and, frankly, it ruined the contest.

I'm actually unsure on how we remedy this though.

 

[wombatgc]

what's the rule about slapping?


thurston slapped some nsw'man in the face (lightly) nd that's ok


so how hard can you slap someone before it's deemed a punch?

slapping is awesome.....all the pain with no broken bones!!! #honeymoon

As Russell Crowe said in Romperstomper...

Slap him if he's yellow, slap him if he's black, slap him in the head till he don't come back

 

[Chip and Chase]

Were there any penalties for inside the 10 last night ?? I swear it was back to old 5m rule. And they didn't police the ruck very heavily either. So the game became a bash a thon because the were in each others faces all night, no wonder the niggle crept in. If they police the ruck and the offside then the game opens up and flows, everyone is too buggered to be worried about cheap shots. Pretty ordinary refereeing IMO.