Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Fri Mar 25, 2022 8:41 pm  

Interesting, which teams will come off worse

The rising cases of play-acting within rugby league was discussed in the Super League coaches meeting on Wednesday, with coaches asked to help stamp out simulation.

Rugby League Live understands the matter was brought up in the meeting on Wednesday, with a number of coaches asking for proposals to be drawn up to eradicate incidents where players are laying on the floor looking for penalties or for players to be sent from the field.

Both Robert Hicks, the RFL's head of legal and operation and current referee, as well as head of match officials Steve Ganson, discussed the matter with coaches and asked them to help clean up the issue. It was also noted how players are going to ground when their team concedes a dropout to buy time before defending another set.

The issue is a tricky one for the match officials, who are not in a position to determine whether or not a player is legitimately injured. However, it was accepted on the call that the matter is becoming a problem and an eye-sore, especially in TV games.

It was suggested that sanctions could be imposed if the matter doesn't resolve itself, which would include players having to leave the field for a period of time if they require treatment but are ultimately fit to continue, similar to the methods currently used in football.

It was said that the matter would be looked at next month to assess if the matter had been resolved by the coaches, and if not, changes would be considered.

One change that has already been introduced is that video referees will not advise on-field officials to give a penalty. Instead, they will only advise if they deem an incident worthy of a sin bin or red card. It's hoped that will put players off staying down and forcing further stoppages.

It was one of various talking points within the meeting, with the use of video referees discussed. There are concerns that video referees are not in a position to make an informed judgement on an incident as they only have camera angles made available to them that are shown by the broadcasters live on TV. However, a number of coaches countered and said the video referee should not be making decisions on offences if they do not have all the evidence in front of them that they require.

It was said that the matter would be looked at next month to assess if the matter had been resolved by the coaches, and if not, changes would be considered.


The issue, on the flip side, is that obvious instances that had been missed on-field would then go unpunished if the video referee could not intervene.

As a result, referees and video referees have been encouraged to 'downgrade' punishments to help strike a balance. As an example, if a referee is unsure if an offence is worth a yellow card, they will just issue a penalty. Officials have also been told to only sin bin players if they deem the offence to be a chargeable one, unless it is for a professional foul. So far this year, four sin bins have not resulted in a charge. Mahe Fonua, Jermaine McGillvary, Danny Levi and Mitchell Pearce have all received yellow cards and not received a suspension from Match Review Panel.

It was clarified that 'front on' collisions would be given more leniency compared to tackles in the back, on the basis the tackle wasn't late or high

[PopTart]

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Fri Mar 25, 2022 9:06 pm  

The problem is clear though. The ref can't determine if someone is play acting or genuinely injured.

For me it's up to the coaches to sort out. Tell them not to do it. Simples.

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:37 am  

St Helens are the masters when it comes to milking a pen
Do I expect anything to change No

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sat Mar 26, 2022 12:52 pm  

GET EM ON SIDE REF wrote:

St Helens are the masters when it comes to milking a pen
Do I expect anything to change No

Exactly. Until the referees start bollocking Saints nothing is going to be any different.

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sat Mar 26, 2022 2:01 pm  

PopTart wrote:

The problem is clear though. The ref can't determine if someone is play acting or genuinely injured.

For me it's up to the coaches to sort out. Tell them not to do it. Simples.

Can’t brand all coaches the same but I genuinely think some advocate their players doing it, anything to benefit the team.

Interesting what comes of it, personally think it should be deemed worse than some punishable offences on the field.

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sat Mar 26, 2022 3:23 pm  

It's definitely creeping in, it's amazing just how many players get up to play the ball a d then start twirling the neck,, rubbing the head or go back down on all fours.
If no action taken by the reffere it will almo certainly attract a detailed look by the panel.
It does need investigating because its the same individuals that seem to be faking it on a regularly occasion.


I

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sat Mar 26, 2022 10:42 pm  

Since when has telling someone not to "do it" resulted in them not doing something that is wrong ? Reality is there is no hard rule breaking & therefore no enforcement of a penalty issue of fine so when needed I will carry on doing it, you cannot stop me till it is out lawed !
That is reality, that's why authorities turn to legislation, the problem with legislation is one size does not fit all the different play acting
So we continue on those who play to break/beat the rules exercising gamesmanship, which leads others to do it hence the merry go rounds of nonsense backed up by people saying I have told my players not to do it but our doctors said it's genuine this time !
ENJOY !

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sat Mar 26, 2022 11:46 pm  

It probably appears worse because the trend would only benefit a televised match.

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sun Mar 27, 2022 7:20 am  

It’s Rife in football and they haven’t manage to sort that out with all the money they can throw at it ,so good luck with it in RL .The first time a ref sin bins a player for supposedly faking it and it turns out to be a serious injury ,they will leave themselves wide open .Much better to come from the coaches to stamp it out with their own players ,who by my own cynical thinking must be condoning it in the first place to gain leverage in the game .It’s silly and spoiling the game and we certainly don’t want it going down the football route where quite frankly it’s embarrassing

Re: Milking the penalty to be reviewed : Sun Mar 27, 2022 8:17 am  

Danny Maguire must be glad he retired.

Whilstever there is a high reward for such actions, human nature will take every opportunity it can get. The over zealous policy over the slightest of touches a millisecond after the ball has gone exacerbates this.

Ultimately the RFL will not be able to mandate this, as others have said it needs to be self regulated by the players and coaches. Fair enough one week you will be on the benefiting side, but that could change the next. Peer pressure from teammates not to do it will be the biggest factor.