It definitely seems star players get different treatment by the referee's, the match review committee and the judiciary. The first incident that springs to mind is one of my dear Parramatta players, Jarryd Hayne. He was cleared to play the Grand Final in 2009 after leading with his knees. The difference though between Jarryd Hayne and Billy Slater? Billy's is not a one off. There's only so many times you can use the "it's not his go" excuse before you need to start questioning whether it actually is his go.
For years Billy has been kicking out when taking the high bomb, it was only until he made contact with someone that people have started to notice. When the incident with Bulldogs player Dave Klemmer happened earlier this year, I had people arguing with me on twitter over the karate kick. Some people had the view that it was his tactic so it was ok. Others argued it was accidental. If you go back and view footage of Billy, you will see he does it all the time so it is a tactic and not accidental. The issue is, it could cause some serious damage. I understand that players need to protect themselves in the air but if they make contact with another player whilst kicking out, they should be penalised. It can be very dangerous.
On the Mitchell Pearce elbow, I don't think for one second it was accidental. Especially given the comments that Pearce is claiming Slater made after getting up.
Billy Slater seems to get away with warnings for a lot of things. It's time he starts getting penalised. I remember hearing a ref earlier this year warning Billy Slater for doing a shoulder charge. No penalty, just a warning. That is absolutely ridiculous! The NRL have brought in harsh penalties for shoulder charges and Billy just gets a warning.
Over the last couple of days different images have been doing the rounds in the media, highlighting Billy's grubby tactics. The media have always been able to make things happen, just look at the banning of the biff. It wouldn't have happened if the media didn't run with it every day for 2 weeks. Let's hope this time the media can use their powers to stop Billy Slater from being a protected species.
Love,
@LadiesWhoLeague
The bigger question is why do the stars get special treatment? Three dynamics to explore further are:
ReplyDeleteStarstruck referees - being on the same field as the Billy's & Jarryd's is the referees version of a backstage pass to the Oscars.
Corrupt Administrators - Sport administrators will ignore their own rules in pursuit of increased profit and media exposure, which players like Slater deliver.
Australian Sporting Culture - will excuse misbehaviour if the culprit display skills above & beyond other players, ie: Warnie
Some very good points raised there!
DeleteI also wanted to bring up a little issue that I often see in NRL and that is the way different team captains are spoken to by the referee.
DeleteI have eben watching this quite closely and notice that whenever Cameron Smith approaches the referee's, they listen and give him time to explain this issue. Compare this to Parramatta co-captains Tim Mannah and Jarryd Hayne who are waved away.
There has been a lot of talk in the media lately about whether teams at the bottom of the ladder cop it a little bit more from the referee's. I know that the referee's certainly don't speak to the team captains consistently!
How bout you get over your hatred. I've been watching this great game for the last 40 years and most players who get under the high ball will kick their leg out. Its just a natural thing to do. When I played footy it was something that I did that I couldn't control because all you want is the ball and you don't think about what your legs are doing.
ReplyDeleteAlso with the alleged shoulder charge incident. I saw a few people in the first couple of games that were being warned for it. It was a new rule and unless it was of an extreme nature they did issue a few warnings.
I think we could focus on any one player and find photos of "alleged" grubby tactics and post them and highlight them as a grub. All players have different styles and all players stuff up once and a while so I don't think Billy Slater is more or less of a grub then any other player.
The elbow incident - well it is Origin after all. Both sides have had their share of Biff and thats what makes it exciting and intense.
Also the comment about the Captains talking to the Refs. I watch all the games. It doesn't matter who is playing and I have noticed that if you are continuously running up to the Ref in a frenzied state then they usually don't want a bar of it. I have seen Jarryd Hayne, Michael Ennis and Sam Thaiday(just to name a few) all act like this and then the Refs don't want to listen. Cameron Smith on the other hand I have noticed is quite composed so they listen to him.
And no i'm not a Maroons supporter or a Melbourne Storm Supporter.
Up the Blues! And the Mighty Parra Eels!
The point I'm trying to make is that when Billy does something it's seen as a one off, when it's not, he does it all the time. As I mentioned, I understand players need to protect themselves in the air but should be penalised if they make contact with the player on the ground as they need to be protected too.
DeleteIn regards to the shoulder charge, it was in a recent game, long after players have began being penalised for it.
I agree with your comment on how we could focus on any one player & find grubby tactics. My reason for focusing on Billy was because he seems to get away with a lot of the things he does & it's not widely spoken about until now. It was actually an article in the paper which was along the lines of my post that prompted me to write this.
Although we may disagree on this topic, I'm glad we agree on one thing. Go the Eels! Thanks for your comments