I’m on the side of too many poor rule changes but here’s the opposite view which is coaches basically tell their teams to cheat and hence why they make rule changes. The coaches are the bigger problem and it’s never going to change. Some do coach their teams positively to actually play footy and not lay down or milk but obviously a minimum
Rugby league coaches are a conniving lot – and it’s time they were exposed.
These are the coaches who deliberately and cynically instruct their players to constantly break the rules, and then complain the loudest when under-pressure referees falter.
Coaches are like a bunch of naughty school kids trying to outwit the relief teacher.
Most breaches in the game are by design — not accident. Coaches employ tactics and antics which intentionally exploit and bend the rules, aimed at securing an advantage and hoodwinking match officials in the cutthroat world of rugby league.
That’s why refereeing is an impossible job.
I’m not a refereeing apologist but officiating will not improve while players and coaches actively work against them.
We see it every week, coaches illegally and immorally pushing the game’s laws to the absolute limits, most centred around the ruck, where the game is essentially won and lost.
As quickly as the NRL pounces on one trend, coaches find a new way of pushing the rules beyond the limit. And it’s the match officials who are left to sort out the new tactics on the run to ensure it’s a level playing field for both teams.
It is a constant battle.
Coaches and their staff spend hours poring over how the game is played and officiated, trying to devise new methods of deceit.
Rugby league doesn’t want to implement new interpretations but if coaches continue creating ways to manipulate the rules, then the NRL has to react.
Each sneaky ruck indiscretion is aimed at slowling down the play-the-ball. The battle these days is being fought in half-seconds and coaches do what they have to do in order to win.
It’s a game of cat and mouse between players and coaches, who push a referee’s patience on 10 metres and ruck infringements, in the hope match officials will simply grow tired of penalising them. They will also apply verbal pressure to the referee by disputing decisions to slow down the restart.
Coaches and staff spend hours trying to devise new methods of deceit.
Some of these darker antics include:
● Grabbing and holding an opponent’s foot to slow down the play-the-ball;
● Defensive players putting weight on an attacking player’s back, with a player flopping in late;
● Deliberately not packing into scrum, resulting in a penalty to allow 13 on 13 in defence;
● Sleepers who stand next to the ruck, forcing the attack to the other side;
● Rolling ball carriers onto their hip and leg to slow down the play-the-ball;
● Pushing the ball carrier down as the tackler rises to his feet to decelerate the ruck;
● Defenders attempt to swing ball carrier’s legs around after a tackle is complete and they are getting to their feet;
● Three players in a tackle but each leaves one by one to slow down the play-the-ball;
● The third man into a tackle is often the last to release to control ruck speed;
● Hands in the face of a ball carrier on the ground to slow down play-the-ball;
● Players thrash around on ground trying to milk a penalty when a defender has already been released; and
● Defenders kneeling on the ball carrier’s arms at the play-the-ball to slow down the ruck.
Coaches have been trying to deceive referees for 118 years but they’re just more sophisticated at it these days.
And I tell you this, coaches shouldn’t be on the NRL rules committee. They will only encourage or block rules changes depending on their team’s playing style.
To be fair, some of the smarter clubs don’t commit as many indiscretions. They seem to know what the referee will do next and exactly how long to stay on a tackle based on the referee and his prompts.
Those intelligent clubs will funnel the attack to their strongest defensive side through how their defenders exit the ruck.
Players have knowingly breached the 10-metre rule in golden point extra time, putting the onus on the referees to make a game-deciding call that will be heatedly debated and become the focus of post-match discussions.
To his credit, referee Peter Gough held his nerve and pinged Parramatta’s Dylan Walker for leaving his line early to contest a field goal, gifting the Wests Tigers a matchwinning penalty in their 22-20 victory on Easter Monday.
But what about the grapple tackle and chicken wing? Or when a defensive team has lost control of the ruck and they purposely give away a set restart so their defensive line can reset?
It goes on each week. Once one manoeuvre is caught and fixed, the next is ready to be launched.
Our coaches consciously place referees under so much scrutiny and then whinge post-game over an adjudication mistake.
