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New scandal in Rugby League

Posted by: Peter Psaltis | 18 May, 2009 - 3:21 PM

In a week of high drama in rugby league I was looking forward to sitting down over the weekend to watch some great games.

I can’t believe what happened in the closing stages of the Bulldogs v Dragons game on Friday night. Steve Clarke should hang his head in shame. He was sold a dummy by Jamie Soward and he bought it, hook, line and sinker.

I heard about what happened before I saw the incident. I had heard that Greg Eastwood held Soward back. That could not be further from the truth. Steve Clarke should be writing a letter of resignation after such a horrible blunder by such an experienced official. It wasn’t even a close call. I commend Jamal Idris on his reaction in post match interviews. He showed a maturity beyond his years.

I can cop some of the mistakes by the men in the middle but if the men up stairs continue to make blatant errors something has to be done. I’ve also got an issue with others being in the video referee’s box. Whether it is the Toyota Cup referee or some other official the video referee always has a guest in the box with them. In my opinion the video referee should be by himself in the box during the course of a game. He shouldn’t have any distractions what so ever.

Bulldogs fans may think they were robbed on Friday night. The fact of the matter remains, they were!

I was at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night watching a very good game of football between the Broncos and the Titans. The first ½ was a terrific contest with the lead changing 4 times. Both teams through everything at each other, it is what you would expect from a local derby. It took a piece of individual brilliance from Israel Folau in the 2nd half to break the game wide open. Folau’s performance on Friday night goes beyond his 4 tries. I believe it was his best performance in Broncos colours. His dummy half runs were superb. He knew when to get in there and when he did he easily made 10 to 15 metres. His defence was also outstanding. I joked with Justin Hodges after the game by saying “did you used to play for the Broncos”. Just imagine how the Broncos will play when Justin gets back into the team full of confidence after a man of the match performance in the test and as Israel continues to grow as a footballer.

I almost didn’t believe big Israel when he told me a couple of weeks ago that he can get better. I saw evidence of that last Friday night and I now believe we haven’t yet seen the best of him.

I do want to give another Broncos player a wrap. Corey Parker has been one of Brisbane’s best all season. He has had a high work rate in all games this season and would surely have to be on the radar as far as Queensland origin selectors are concerned. His pass for Steve Michaels try on Friday night was also something special, it was the pass of someone who right on top of his game.

Blog comments

NRL clamps down on "Bad Behaviour" on the field by players, what about clamping down on "Bad behaviour" on the field (or in the box) by the Refs.

Trevor Friday 29 May, 2009 - 10:05 AM
I feel sorry for the Bulldogs. I can't believe that they can be stripped 2 points for their indiscretion of 14 players on the field but can't then be awarded 2 points for that farse of a decision by Clark. It's a joke and it also cost me a perfect round of tipping!!!

John Wednesday 20 May, 2009 - 2:25 PM
When blatent mistakes are made like the Steve Clarke one ,why can't the NRL reverse the disision?

Phil Tuesday 19 May, 2009 - 7:30 AM