Why it's not just players who should face the judiciary
Paul Sheehan
Sydney Morning Herald columnist
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This is not a column about sport. It is a column about cynical violence. It is about actions which, in a different context, would see the actors in court. The primary object of this piece is to examine the conduct of a prominent rugby league coach, Geoff Toovey, and the thuggish misconduct of his players.
At Brookvale Oval on Friday night, in a televised match between heavyweight title contenders Manly and South Sydney, the most dangerous player on the visiting team, South Sydney's Greg Inglis, was repeatedly struck around the head by a succession of Manly players in a clear attempt to batter him into submission.
Here is the sequence of events:
The second minute: Inglis is the first Souths player to touch the ball and is hit by a swinging arm to the head by Manly player Kieran Foran. Two other Manly players, Glenn Stewart and Brenton Lawrence, pile onto him after the referee had called ''Play the ball''. Penalty to Souths.
The 11th minute: Inglis, in his second touch of the game, receives another forearm to the head, from Brett Stewart, as he is bundled into touch short of the try line.
The 19th minute: Inglis, in his third touch, is struck around the head for the third time. Manly forward Richie Fa'aoso piledrives him into the ground, head first. Penalty. Fa'aoso is placed on report by the referees for a dangerous tackle.
The 20th minute: Inglis has his head bandaged.
The 22nd minute: Inglis, in his fourth run of the game, is assaulted for a fourth time as Manly forward Jason King drives him into the turf. Another penalty to Souths. At this point even the game's greatest apologist for cheap shots, Channel Nine commentator Phil Gould, acknowledged the obvious: ''They've been really physical with Greg Inglis.''
The 28th minute: Brett Stewart elbows the head of another Souths player, behind the run of play. Penalty. He is placed on report.
The 41st minute: Inglis breaks the deadlock when he beats two defenders and races 50 metres to score the opening try.
The 43rd minute: After Inglis touches the ball for the second time in the second half he is spear tackled, again by Fa'aoso, and lands on his neck. Penalty. Fa'aoso placed on report, again, yet stays on the field.
Inglis is one of the biggest men on the field, which is fortunate because a smaller man could not have withstood so many dangerous hits.
The 47th minute: Manly's Steve Matai, who has been suspended 12 times for high or dangerous tackles, and penalised for innumerable other infractions, delivers a swinging arm to the head of Souths forward George Burgess.
Slow-motion replays show Matai's arm hitting Burgess' throat and grazing his chin. Burgess' mouth snaps open, he drops the ball and falls to the ground, dazed. A Manly player can be heard laughing.
This sparks a brief melee as Sam Burgess confronts Matai over the hit on his brother. Penalty to Souths. Matai is placed on report for the 14th time in the past seven seasons.
Sam Burgess asks the referee: ''When are we going to get an advantage? That's four times!''
A very good question. After four flagrantly dangerous tackles, and Manly players being placed on report four times, the team still has all its players and are able to mount a late charge against their battered opponents.
With Manly having so many players facing the judiciary this week, the person who must bear responsibility for this is head coach Toovey, who compounded the problem with ludicrous comments about the running style of Inglis, as if he was to blame for being thugged by Toovey's players.
Manly had a decision to make this week: contest some or all of the charges and run the risk of stiffer penalties imposed, or not to contest. It chose the prudent path and did not contest, given the televised evidence of guilt was self-evident in each case. Fa'aoso, the enforcer, was suspended for eight weeks. Matai, the head-hunter, was suspended for just one week. Stewart received no suspension, only penalty points.
Given that six different Manly players had belted Inglis, and four had been penalised for doing so, Toovey should have been called before the judiciary to explain the pattern. This never occurred to the judiciary. Instead, Toovey whined about the system being biased against penalised clubs.
He should be thankful he was not hauled before the disciplinary panel, which would have sent a message to every coach, and the public, that there will be consequences when a team targets a star player for a belting. Instead, the message sent is that the Australian Rugby League Commission remains in denial about the medical and legal dangers of concussion, as if it does not know or care about the ever-growing lawsuits in America over concussion and football.
Paul Sheehan
Sydney Morning Herald columnist
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This is not a column about sport. It is a column about cynical violence. It is about actions which, in a different context, would see the actors in court. The primary object of this piece is to examine the conduct of a prominent rugby league coach, Geoff Toovey, and the thuggish misconduct of his players.
At Brookvale Oval on Friday night, in a televised match between heavyweight title contenders Manly and South Sydney, the most dangerous player on the visiting team, South Sydney's Greg Inglis, was repeatedly struck around the head by a succession of Manly players in a clear attempt to batter him into submission.
Here is the sequence of events:
The second minute: Inglis is the first Souths player to touch the ball and is hit by a swinging arm to the head by Manly player Kieran Foran. Two other Manly players, Glenn Stewart and Brenton Lawrence, pile onto him after the referee had called ''Play the ball''. Penalty to Souths.
The 11th minute: Inglis, in his second touch of the game, receives another forearm to the head, from Brett Stewart, as he is bundled into touch short of the try line.
The 19th minute: Inglis, in his third touch, is struck around the head for the third time. Manly forward Richie Fa'aoso piledrives him into the ground, head first. Penalty. Fa'aoso is placed on report by the referees for a dangerous tackle.
The 20th minute: Inglis has his head bandaged.
The 22nd minute: Inglis, in his fourth run of the game, is assaulted for a fourth time as Manly forward Jason King drives him into the turf. Another penalty to Souths. At this point even the game's greatest apologist for cheap shots, Channel Nine commentator Phil Gould, acknowledged the obvious: ''They've been really physical with Greg Inglis.''
The 28th minute: Brett Stewart elbows the head of another Souths player, behind the run of play. Penalty. He is placed on report.
The 41st minute: Inglis breaks the deadlock when he beats two defenders and races 50 metres to score the opening try.
The 43rd minute: After Inglis touches the ball for the second time in the second half he is spear tackled, again by Fa'aoso, and lands on his neck. Penalty. Fa'aoso placed on report, again, yet stays on the field.
Inglis is one of the biggest men on the field, which is fortunate because a smaller man could not have withstood so many dangerous hits.
The 47th minute: Manly's Steve Matai, who has been suspended 12 times for high or dangerous tackles, and penalised for innumerable other infractions, delivers a swinging arm to the head of Souths forward George Burgess.
Slow-motion replays show Matai's arm hitting Burgess' throat and grazing his chin. Burgess' mouth snaps open, he drops the ball and falls to the ground, dazed. A Manly player can be heard laughing.
This sparks a brief melee as Sam Burgess confronts Matai over the hit on his brother. Penalty to Souths. Matai is placed on report for the 14th time in the past seven seasons.
Sam Burgess asks the referee: ''When are we going to get an advantage? That's four times!''
A very good question. After four flagrantly dangerous tackles, and Manly players being placed on report four times, the team still has all its players and are able to mount a late charge against their battered opponents.
With Manly having so many players facing the judiciary this week, the person who must bear responsibility for this is head coach Toovey, who compounded the problem with ludicrous comments about the running style of Inglis, as if he was to blame for being thugged by Toovey's players.
Manly had a decision to make this week: contest some or all of the charges and run the risk of stiffer penalties imposed, or not to contest. It chose the prudent path and did not contest, given the televised evidence of guilt was self-evident in each case. Fa'aoso, the enforcer, was suspended for eight weeks. Matai, the head-hunter, was suspended for just one week. Stewart received no suspension, only penalty points.
Given that six different Manly players had belted Inglis, and four had been penalised for doing so, Toovey should have been called before the judiciary to explain the pattern. This never occurred to the judiciary. Instead, Toovey whined about the system being biased against penalised clubs.
He should be thankful he was not hauled before the disciplinary panel, which would have sent a message to every coach, and the public, that there will be consequences when a team targets a star player for a belting. Instead, the message sent is that the Australian Rugby League Commission remains in denial about the medical and legal dangers of concussion, as if it does not know or care about the ever-growing lawsuits in America over concussion and football.
