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A whopping 73 players are walking a suspension tightrope heading into the finals as the NRL warned foul play will not be tolerated in the big end-of-season games.
V’landys and head-of-football Graham Annesley have come out swinging at claims NRL officials have gone soft on foul play in the wake of Latrell Mitchell’s season-ending suspension for his brutal high shot on Roosters rival Joseph Manu.
News Corp can reveal more than 70 players go into week one of the finals — starting with Friday night’s Melbourne-Manly blockbuster — with carry-over points for infringements during the regular season.
Watch every 2021 NRL Telstra Finals Series match before Grand Final. Live & Ad-Break Free on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free >
They include some of the code’s biggest names, including Roosters hitmen Victor Radley and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Penrith halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, Souths maestro Cody Walker and Storm matchwinners Cameron Munster and Brandon Smith.
The NRL’s Bunker and match officials have been pilloried for failing to send-off Mitchell, fuelling a belief the code has gone soft over the zero-tolerance crackdown on high shots that began during Magic Round in May.
But V’landys insists NRL referees have been given a firm edict not to tolerate head-trauma attacks and will take action over acts of foul play that could derail a team’s premiership ambitions.
“It’s complete rubbish that we have gone soft on high shots,” V’landys said on the eve of the finals. “People think the crackdown is gone — that’s not right.
“The crackdown has not stopped, what’s happening is players are complying and there is a lot less contact above the neck.
“The players have responded, so the crackdown applies for the finals.
“I believe the players have realised they will cost their team in a big way if they get sin-binned or sent off (during the finals).”
Radley has a record five loadings this season for foul-play charges and will almost certainly be rubbed out for the rest of the premiership if he transgresses during the finals.
Other key players in the firing line include Parramatta firebrand Nathan Brown (four loadings), Melbourne prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona (four), Panthers duo Steve Crichton and Tevita Pangai Jr (three) and Storm back-rower Felise Kaufusi (three).
For the Titans, David Fifita (three) is in danger of being rubbed out, while Souths pair Dane Gagai and Jaydn Su’A and Penrith wrecking ball Viliame Kikau can ill-afford to step out of line.
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has put the eight finals teams on notice over savage high shots amid revelations a whopping 73 players are walking a suspension tightrope in this year’s NRL playoffs.
V’landys and head-of-football Graham Annesley have come out swinging at claims NRL officials have gone soft on foul play in the wake of Latrell Mitchell’s season-ending suspension for his brutal high shot on Roosters rival Joseph Manu.
News Corp can reveal more than 70 players go into week one of the finals — starting with Friday night’s Melbourne-Manly blockbuster — with carry-over points for infringements during the regular season.
Watch every 2021 NRL Telstra Finals Series match before Grand Final. Live & Ad-Break Free on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free >
They include some of the code’s biggest names, including Roosters hitmen Victor Radley and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Penrith halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, Souths maestro Cody Walker and Storm matchwinners Cameron Munster and Brandon Smith.
The NRL’s Bunker and match officials have been pilloried for failing to send-off Mitchell, fuelling a belief the code has gone soft over the zero-tolerance crackdown on high shots that began during Magic Round in MayCody Walker is walking the suspension tightrope during this year’s finals.
But V’landys insists NRL referees have been given a firm edict not to tolerate head-trauma attacks and will take action over acts of foul play that could derail a team’s premiership ambitions.
“It’s complete rubbish that we have gone soft on high shots,” V’landys said on the eve of the finals. “People think the crackdown is gone — that’s not right.
“The crackdown has not stopped, what’s happening is players are complying and there is a lot less contact above the neck.
“The players have responded, so the crackdown applies for the finals.
“I believe the players have realised they will cost their team in a big way if they get sin-binned or sent off (during the finals).”
Radley has a record five loadings this season for foul-play charges and will almost certainly be rubbed out for the rest of the premiership if he transgresses during the finals.
Other key players in the firing line include Parramatta firebrand Nathan Brown (four loadings), Melbourne prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona (four), Panthers duo Steve Crichton and Tevita Pangai Jr (three) and Storm back-rower Felise Kaufusi (three).
For the Titans, David Fifita (three) is in danger of being rubbed out, while Souths pair Dane Gagai and Jaydn Su’A and Penrith wrecking ball Viliame Kikau can ill-afford to step out of line.
Roosters hitman Victor Radley cannot afford another incident in the finals. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images
Manly are the finals cleanskins with matchwinning dynamic duo Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic steering clear of the NRL match-review committee this season.
Annesley said match officials would be as vigilant as ever during the most important games of the Telstra Premiership season.
“Nothing has changed,” he said. “While there may be occasional misjudgements about the seriousness of offences at the time they are committed, the focus of the ARL Commission and management on this aspect of the game is permanent.
“It’s also important to note that we have a two-stage process in place to ensure foul play does not pass without appropriate action.
“If incidents are missed or action by match officials is not considered sufficient, our match review and judiciary process is in place to act as a safety net. This is the way the system is designed.
“While we did see a drop in the number of incidents requiring action by referees and the match review committee after Magic Round, we have recently seen these incidents start to creep back up and the game has responded accordingly.”
V’landys dismissed criticism of the NRL Bunker and the consistency of officiating.
“Unfortunately, we are not perfect,” he said.
“It’s like anything, people don’t notice anything when things are going well, they only notice it when things go bad. It went bad with Latrell, but the success rate overall is excellent.
“It’s like the Bunker. People want to bag the Bunker, but how many correct decisions do they make? The success rate is significant, 95 per cent of the time they get it right, but people focus on the negatives. I prefer to focus on the positives.
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“Andrew Abdo (NRL CEO) has done an excellent job in developing a road map as we call it on what’s a penalty, what’s a sin bin and what constitutes a send off.
“You only have to watch the games to see there’s a lot less issues.”
They will be gunning for Rads and JWH, Guss is on the edge as well.
What gets me is, if you watch all the stuff they have been charged for, they really were innocuous incidents.
A whopping 73 players are walking a suspension tightrope heading into the finals as the NRL warned foul play will not be tolerated in the big end-of-season games.
V’landys and head-of-football Graham Annesley have come out swinging at claims NRL officials have gone soft on foul play in the wake of Latrell Mitchell’s season-ending suspension for his brutal high shot on Roosters rival Joseph Manu.
News Corp can reveal more than 70 players go into week one of the finals — starting with Friday night’s Melbourne-Manly blockbuster — with carry-over points for infringements during the regular season.
Watch every 2021 NRL Telstra Finals Series match before Grand Final. Live & Ad-Break Free on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free >
They include some of the code’s biggest names, including Roosters hitmen Victor Radley and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Penrith halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, Souths maestro Cody Walker and Storm matchwinners Cameron Munster and Brandon Smith.
The NRL’s Bunker and match officials have been pilloried for failing to send-off Mitchell, fuelling a belief the code has gone soft over the zero-tolerance crackdown on high shots that began during Magic Round in May.
But V’landys insists NRL referees have been given a firm edict not to tolerate head-trauma attacks and will take action over acts of foul play that could derail a team’s premiership ambitions.
“It’s complete rubbish that we have gone soft on high shots,” V’landys said on the eve of the finals. “People think the crackdown is gone — that’s not right.
“The crackdown has not stopped, what’s happening is players are complying and there is a lot less contact above the neck.
“The players have responded, so the crackdown applies for the finals.
“I believe the players have realised they will cost their team in a big way if they get sin-binned or sent off (during the finals).”
Radley has a record five loadings this season for foul-play charges and will almost certainly be rubbed out for the rest of the premiership if he transgresses during the finals.
Other key players in the firing line include Parramatta firebrand Nathan Brown (four loadings), Melbourne prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona (four), Panthers duo Steve Crichton and Tevita Pangai Jr (three) and Storm back-rower Felise Kaufusi (three).
For the Titans, David Fifita (three) is in danger of being rubbed out, while Souths pair Dane Gagai and Jaydn Su’A and Penrith wrecking ball Viliame Kikau can ill-afford to step out of line.
ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys has put the eight finals teams on notice over savage high shots amid revelations a whopping 73 players are walking a suspension tightrope in this year’s NRL playoffs.
V’landys and head-of-football Graham Annesley have come out swinging at claims NRL officials have gone soft on foul play in the wake of Latrell Mitchell’s season-ending suspension for his brutal high shot on Roosters rival Joseph Manu.
News Corp can reveal more than 70 players go into week one of the finals — starting with Friday night’s Melbourne-Manly blockbuster — with carry-over points for infringements during the regular season.
Watch every 2021 NRL Telstra Finals Series match before Grand Final. Live & Ad-Break Free on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free >
They include some of the code’s biggest names, including Roosters hitmen Victor Radley and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Penrith halves Nathan Cleary and Jarome Luai, Souths maestro Cody Walker and Storm matchwinners Cameron Munster and Brandon Smith.
The NRL’s Bunker and match officials have been pilloried for failing to send-off Mitchell, fuelling a belief the code has gone soft over the zero-tolerance crackdown on high shots that began during Magic Round in MayCody Walker is walking the suspension tightrope during this year’s finals.
But V’landys insists NRL referees have been given a firm edict not to tolerate head-trauma attacks and will take action over acts of foul play that could derail a team’s premiership ambitions.
“It’s complete rubbish that we have gone soft on high shots,” V’landys said on the eve of the finals. “People think the crackdown is gone — that’s not right.
“The crackdown has not stopped, what’s happening is players are complying and there is a lot less contact above the neck.
“The players have responded, so the crackdown applies for the finals.
“I believe the players have realised they will cost their team in a big way if they get sin-binned or sent off (during the finals).”
Radley has a record five loadings this season for foul-play charges and will almost certainly be rubbed out for the rest of the premiership if he transgresses during the finals.
Other key players in the firing line include Parramatta firebrand Nathan Brown (four loadings), Melbourne prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona (four), Panthers duo Steve Crichton and Tevita Pangai Jr (three) and Storm back-rower Felise Kaufusi (three).
For the Titans, David Fifita (three) is in danger of being rubbed out, while Souths pair Dane Gagai and Jaydn Su’A and Penrith wrecking ball Viliame Kikau can ill-afford to step out of line.
Roosters hitman Victor Radley cannot afford another incident in the finals. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images
Manly are the finals cleanskins with matchwinning dynamic duo Daly Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic steering clear of the NRL match-review committee this season.
Annesley said match officials would be as vigilant as ever during the most important games of the Telstra Premiership season.
“Nothing has changed,” he said. “While there may be occasional misjudgements about the seriousness of offences at the time they are committed, the focus of the ARL Commission and management on this aspect of the game is permanent.
“It’s also important to note that we have a two-stage process in place to ensure foul play does not pass without appropriate action.
“If incidents are missed or action by match officials is not considered sufficient, our match review and judiciary process is in place to act as a safety net. This is the way the system is designed.
“While we did see a drop in the number of incidents requiring action by referees and the match review committee after Magic Round, we have recently seen these incidents start to creep back up and the game has responded accordingly.”
V’landys dismissed criticism of the NRL Bunker and the consistency of officiating.
“Unfortunately, we are not perfect,” he said.
“It’s like anything, people don’t notice anything when things are going well, they only notice it when things go bad. It went bad with Latrell, but the success rate overall is excellent.
“It’s like the Bunker. People want to bag the Bunker, but how many correct decisions do they make? The success rate is significant, 95 per cent of the time they get it right, but people focus on the negatives. I prefer to focus on the positives.
More Coverage
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“Andrew Abdo (NRL CEO) has done an excellent job in developing a road map as we call it on what’s a penalty, what’s a sin bin and what constitutes a send off.
“You only have to watch the games to see there’s a lot less issues.”
They will be gunning for Rads and JWH, Guss is on the edge as well.
What gets me is, if you watch all the stuff they have been charged for, they really were innocuous incidents.
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