Toovey in Trouble - By @WeLoveLeague

Thanks heaps to our friends @WeLoveLeague for this fabulous blog on Geoff Toovey. Be sure to pop in and say hello to them too: http://www.weloveleague.com/. Their website is fabulous!

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The NRL fined Manly coach Geoff Toovey $10,000 on Monday following his spray of the referees after the Sea Eagles lost to South Sydney in round 23.

The biggest talking point of the extraordinary blow up is not not just what was said or how, but what happened as a result and what it means for coaches.

Toovey was in a foul mood over a number of incidents in the game, particularly enraged by Steve Matai’s try being disallowed due to insufficient evidence for the on field referee’s no try ruling to be overturned.

“Can someone answer me that? [Video ref] said held up but the ball’s on the ground. How can that be held up?,” Toovey said

“That’s ridiculous. There’s got to be an investigation into this, someone’s got to be accountable for this.”

He may have had a point too. The ball was clearly on the ground at some point as Matai slid towards the line through momentum.

Being the game of the round, the referees appointed were of high quality, in officials Henry Perenara and Shayne Hayne yet Toovey questioned the performance of the two.

Coaches are emotional people, this has been seen time and time again by the cameras aimed towards the coaching boxes.

They are also told they must front media conferences following the games and when there, all it takes is a poke in the right spot by the media and a coach will ‘blow-up.’

It makes for great journalism and publicity, but not such a great result for the club, as they are slapped with a hefty fine.

While some comments have to be filtered out, such as ones that question integrity of officialdom, questioning decisions that have been made should not be considered an offense.

The fans do it, and the coaches should be allowed to as well.

It is the only way that the officials are held accountable under the current system, and it is the only way that the press conferences have meaning.

If the emotions aren’t allowed at post match press conferences, we are left with cliché coaches and players, and there is no point.