Controversy Surrounding Souths V Bulldogs Ref. Decision

[TurnStyle]

Just saw it for the first time.
Perfectly valid penalty. steve price used to dive at players legs repeatedly trying to 'smother the ball of the boot' & from memory it ended at least one players career. It was outloawed then because it's a vicious act and it still is.
Run in and jump up at the ball but trying to smother it off the boot is dangerous and outloawed for a very god reason.
Unfortunately, as the commentators, in particular gould, said 'the ref was wrong', everyone is going to carry on how hard done by james graham is - when he deserved everything he got. (esp. as he was carrying on last week telling the refs not to be scared to give a penalty)

edit - and throwing things at the ref because you don;t like the call… pathetic

getting all technical, as Geo has supplied, according to the rules (15 something…) Graham had already begun his (diving) attempt to smother the field goal attempt and as such, the on field ruling was actually incorrect.

was it Price who used to deliberately take the kickers legs out? used to really just cannon himself into their legs? yeh, that was really unsportsmanlike and was rightly made illegal - just like [whoever it was] used to be third man in all the time and cannon into a tackled players legs.

but i stand by the correct way to smother a kick; it was just done very poorly by graham. Aussie rules players have done this since the year dot and continue to do so to this day without injuring anyone. the difference is that graham was way off the mark and crashed into the planted leg, whilst AFL players have the technique down pat by an early age and aren't as cumbersome doing it (its like a professional boxer would throw a straight jab with the correct technique but a brawling thug would just throw a roundhouse like a bear swipe!).

[](http://s74.photobucket.com/user/jt6572/media/2015-04-03%2009.51.33%20pm_zpss1w3vlse.png.html)

ive always wondered why league players have never been taught the right way to smother a kick…maybe they could distribute the image above to them!!

so i guess on this point i would say that although done correctly it is the best way to do it, crashing into a kickers legs with your body should be discouraged and outlawed.

the image Geo provided of Graham proves my earlier point that there is no way he was trying to tackle Reynolds. he wasnt even looking at him or the ball (bad technique as i said!) and wasnt trying to maim the guy - just trying to save the game the best way he could.

so, in concession - and backflipping on my own point in a previous post regarding NFL kickers! - maybe the rules should be changed to say that if a kicking player's legs are taken out recklessly then yes it should be a penalty.

 

[TurnStyle]

**(esp. as he was carrying on last week telling the refs not to be scared to give a penalty)**

edit - and throwing things at the ref because you don;t like the call… pathetic

oh the irony! i had forgotten about that!


"but james! last week you said i shouldnt be scared to give a penalty!"
:roll

 

[TurnStyle]

I think from now on Canterbury supporters should be placed in a caged area much like what they have for English soccer.

in english soccer they simply have the away teams supporters allocated to the one end of the stadium behind the goal whereas the home team has the other three sides. i think in other parts of the world they have fences separating opposing fans and the field.

god lets hope things dont get like that though hey? there have been plenty of games of football played in empty stadia because of this rubbish. just crazy… :crazy

 

[Tigermama]

Two teams I dislike giving it to each other, with a fair bit of controversy thrown in too. Totally enjoyed it.. :mrgreen:
And the Richard Cranium Award goes to…. The Bulldogs Fans.

 

[innsaneink]

It wasnt the refs that incited the dog members….it was their (C)


 

[TJL]

god lets hope things dont get like that though hey? there have been plenty of games of football played in empty stadia because of this rubbish. just crazy… :crazy

What else are you supposed to do when one team's supporters act like wild animals? BTW, the Canterbury players weren't much better. FFS, the first thing I was taught playing the game was to treat the ref with respect even if you knew he was a dickhead since he had the whistle, you know the old saying - yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir. They were lucky only one was given ten in the bin IMHO. As for the kick in the head that's a send off no questions asked.

 

[TurnStyle]

god lets hope things dont get like that though hey? there have been plenty of games of football played in empty stadia because of this rubbish. just crazy… :crazy

What else are you supposed to do when one team's supporters act like wild animals? BTW, the Canterbury players weren't much better. FFS, the first thing I was taught playing the game was to treat the ref with respect even if you knew he was a peanut since he had the whistle, you know the old saying - yes sir, no sir, three bags full sir. They were lucky only one was given ten in the bin IMHO. As for the kick in the head that's a send off no questions asked.

i agree. i think in the past security cameras have been able to pick up a lot of fans doing things like throwing coins, bottles on to the field. also the "text antisocial behaviour" signs are a good idea and im sure there are a lot of canterbury supporters who despise these idiots as well who could alert the authorities to them.

i guess we'll see in the coming days what comes of it.

although blown way out of proportion in an article i read about it on foxsports, morris still used his boot in a dangerous way and should get a few weeks, as should graham if only for his berating of the ref.

as you say, good job, bad job, the ref is still just trying to do his job - a thankless one at that - and shouldnt have to be subjected to some beast looking like hes is about to rip his head off his puny shoulders!

 

[Tigersman]

Right call. Full stop.

_Posted using RoarFEED Android 1.2.3_

thats wrong and so is your signature quote… unless "quiters" is supposed to be a joke? :laughing:

What the hell are you on about? How is wrong and how is my Sig wrong?…..

_Posted using RoarFEED Android 1.2.3_

 

[Tigersman]

Right call. Full stop.

_Posted using RoarFEED Android 1.2.3_

thats wrong and so is your signature quote… unless "quiters" is supposed to be a joke? :laughing:

What the hell are you on about? How is wrong and how is my Sig wrong?…..

_Posted using RoarFEED Android 1.2.3_

How is it wrong*

_Posted using RoarFEED Android 1.2.3_

 

[TJL]

as you say, good job, bad job, the ref is still just trying to do his job - a thankless one at that - and shouldnt have to be subjected to some beast looking like hes is about to rip his head off his puny shoulders!

A lot of people see refs as being frustrated footballers who weren't good enough to play the game. Regardless, it certainly isn't a job I'd like to take on and with the scenes we've seen today it is with little wonder that there is a shortage of refs.

BTW, the so-called experts of the game the commentators at channel nein should have a good read of the rule book before they open their mouths. Gould is a total


.

 

[Swordy]

I fail to see why people treat referees and officials poorly in any sport.

To think this happens in my country is embarrassing and scary. Personally, I don't understand the mentality of 'booing' officials when they're introduced and all that stuff. I think we would all get a much better result if we supported these officials and gave them a round of applause, regardless of their performance.

But I understand there are plenty of brain-deads out there that claim it is their right to boo and their right to sledge the officials etc etc.

The whole thing is just very sad.

 

[TrueTiger]

Irrespective of the games result and how it was won or lost…the Dogs fans never cease to amaze me with their outbursts during and after games..once again due to the few who can't contain themselves our great game has been disreputed because of the disgracefull behaviour of throwing projectiles at the officials....
Hopefully the children that grow up and still support the Doggies,will not have this demeanour and will take a loss in whatever fashion the loss was in a sportsman like manner and continue on making our game one of the best in th world......

As an Australian citizen and passionate rugby league supporter,the behaviour of a few was nothing short of a disgrace....hopefully the injured aren't serious.....

 

[king_sirro]

It wasnt the refs that incited the dog members….it was their (C)


Wife said exactly the same thing and believes he should be stripped of the captaincy. Hard to argue that Graham did cause it now I think about it more. His over the top reaction is definitely what fired up the dogs fans because it gave them the strong belief they were outrageously robbed. If he stayed calm then the fans would be filthy at losing like that but they wouldn't have gone off like they did.

 

[joebob]

Lots of 50/50 calls in the second half including that GI one on the 5th tackle. Bulldogs blowing a decent lead and game they always looked like winning. This set the fans up perfectly to go crazy when a harsh but correct call literally costs their team victory.

The players reactions wouldn't have helped either plus the "taking out" of Morris from the kick off. It was always going to explode.

The strange thing is that Hasler was OK about it. But was this his real reaction or was he instructed to by the club to avoid adding fuel to the fire?

_Posted using RoarFEED Android 1.2.3_

 

[Tiger_Watto]

This has been building for a while, and I hope the NRL dont use the actions of a few to not look at managing the ongoing performances of the Referees.

Undoubtedly, Graham incited the fans and due to his continual behaviour should see some consequences for his behaviour. A very poor refection for juniors all over the country.

Should've been a Penalty Try to Luke and the attack of Reynolds legs was always a penalty.

_Posted using RoarFEED 4.2.0_

 

[king_sirro]

Graham should get a week for his actions and 2 weeks for the dive. Unfortunate for Reynolds that he got hurt but it was an accident, deserving of just a couple of weeks. So 3 weeks in total for Graham IMO.

Klemmer should get a week too, we can't have refs attacked like this.

Throw in 2 weeks for Morris kicking Luke and this is a bad loss for the dogs lol

 

[Geo]

😱pen_mouth: Luke's TRY was an 8point TRY awarded

Anyhow Dogs fans don't need an excuse …


 

[Tiger_Watto]

😱pen_mouth: Luke's TRY was an 8point TRY awarded

Anyhow Dogs fans don't need an excuse …

C'mon Geo, it was clearly a penalty try… Anyone complaining about that is living in the 80's

_Posted using RoarFEED 4.2.0_

 

[saundo1982]

I think this was a penalty.

I look at this way, if that was our halfback taking that drop goal would I want it to be penalty. Hell yes.

Would I be frustrated if we lost like that. Hell yes.

Yes it may have been accidental but you cannot say when a bloke ends up with a serious injury that it wasn't dangerous. I guess when you think dangerous we tend to more think about lifting or spear tackles. Perhaps we need to look at what they define dangerous as.

You see plenty of guys attempt to charge down field goals with out ending up at the feet of the kicker, you'd think for graham to be that close after 78 minutes of hard footy on wet track that to get that close he would had to have been offside from the outset ( as most are in similar circumstances). Imagine the blow up if the refs blew the penalty for players offside. Now that would be a one off conspiracy theory as they never penalise that with minutes remaining or extra time.

Just my thoughts on it all and I think any supporter of any team would expect a penalty to have been blown if that happened to their halfback. So long as we see consistency in the calls That as fans is all we are after. But I can't say I've seen a field goal charge down end up like that in a number years for the refs to be consistent with.

_Posted using RoarFEED 4.2.0_

 

[foreveratiger]

It wasnt the refs that incited the dog members….it was their (C)


Wife said exactly the same thing and believes he should be stripped of the captaincy. Hard to argue that Graham did cause it now I think about it more. His over the top reaction is definitely what fired up the dogs fans because it gave them the strong belief they were outrageously robbed. If he stayed calm then the fans would be filthy at losing like that but they wouldn't have gone off like they did.

Spot on , what Graham is doing finger pointing at the Ref's face is a very intimidating gesture . You do that away from a professional Arena and do that at a Pub ? guaranteed that would be a fight .

He is a very poor Captain who lacks self Control , like i said yesterday you can go off till your blue in the face but your not going to change a Ref's call.
On the tackle if you are going to throw yourself at a player's feet like that be prepared to pay for the consequences if it goes wrong .

Shame on you Graham you have certainly been taught well on the Bulldogs culture.