On a wet October Sunday in Sydney, the NRL’s showpiece event was drawing towards its conclusion and the Penrith Panthers were staging an improbable comeback having been 26-0 down with half an hour play.
Then in his final game for the Melbourne Storm skipper , Cameron Smith, aggrieved by another decision against his side, this time resulting in a sin-bin, he resorted to questioning the referee’s integrity with the lines, “The last three or four penalties they have got is little very picky stuff and we have got nothing mate. I get it, everyone wants an exciting finish. But we are just the same as them. Stop trying to pick little things out of our game to make an exciting finish.”
Panthers v Storm | Grand Final | Telstra Premiership | NRL – YouTube
Players and fans will know the frustration of a wrong decision going against you but as a child you’re taught to never question the referee’s decision let alone accuse him of outright cheating as Smith did in the Grand Final.
There will be many people who in the heat of the moment have questioned a decision and immediately regretted it, people make mistakes, but the manner and vocabulary used by Smith in the grand final went beyond a mistake and was an unedifying assault on referee Gerrard Sutton’s authority but also an incident you can’t help but feel is indicative of a culture that the NRL has fostered.
Before the 2020 NRL season, a captain’s challenge system was introduced and fans were supportive. It allowed each team the chance to review a decision they believed to be erroneous and if successful retain their challenge and if unsuccessful, surrender the right to appeal any further decisions, in much the same vein of tennis with hawk-eye and cricket with the review system.
2020 captain’s challenge, new rule, referees – NRL
Both those systems had their teething problems but are now universally accepted to work well and efficiently. There is also a clarity about the decision making and the decision reached is purely based on technology and therefore there is no room for debate, the decision is black and white; in or out; out or not out. In the NRL that is not always the case.
Due to the nature of the sport when the challenge is made there is a direct confrontation with the referee and as evidenced this season the reviews sides are making are far from rational, often done in desperation or frustration. The other problem is this ability to question the referee’s decision has led to an environment whereby players feel they have the right to comment on any decision thus undermining the officials authority and leading to situations such as in the Grand Final and I doubt many fans will endorse such a culture.
This is not to say that referee’s should be exempt from criticism but if the referee has made an error than the correction needs to come from the TMO (Television Match Offi-cial) and not the players. Help should be made to man on the ground and whilst advocating for errors to be corrected I do not think the current system is the right way to go. Also, the very nature of the game means that a lot of the decisions that are challenged are down to interpretation and there is not the conclusive nature that cricket and tennis offer.
The idea behind the system was to prevent howlers and in crucial moments deliver the right verdict but most of these challengers aren’t for such situations. There was uproar after the 2019 Grand Final when Canberra were denied victory after the referee changed his mind to allow a new set of six with the Raiders piling pressure on the Sydney Roosters. This blunder was a catalyst for the introduction of the challenge system yet under the regulations of the system the team would be unable to challenge if that same error was made.
People may bemoan the overuse of technology such as in Rugby Union where perhaps it’s arguable that there is an overuse of technology however, the fact that professional referees are taking time to come to the conclusion is a positive and it reduces the chance of dissent and backchat that has become part of the NRL spectacle.
Related Articles: Manly’s Addin Fonua-Blake to miss two NRL matches following tirade at referee – ABC News
The major issue with system is the message that it sends. If one of the greatest players of all time deems it appropriate to question the official’s integrity then any player and any child who play the game will feel they have the right to question referees in any sport and at any level.
If the issue is coming to the correct decision then that needs to come from the referees and not the players. Players jobs are to play the game; the officials jobs are to officiate. This challenge system in my view has not worked and is setting a dangerous precedent not just in the NRL but sport as a whole and is something that needs to be eradicated.
Archie Connolly Sport 