NRL bunker, review committee split on dangerous tackles
The NRL's bunker and match review committee have disagreed on more than a third of dangerous-tackle calls this season, with alarming data showing the great disconnect.
The league's foul-play crackdown reached its zenith at the weekend, with a record 18 players sin-binned and mass confusion from coaches and former players.
But perhaps the more concerning element for the NRL is the clear split between on-field punishments and the judiciary system.
In recent years, a sin bin has traditionally equated to a grade-two charge from the match review committee and at least a one-game ban.
Trends from recent weeks appear to show the NRL has lowered the marker for a sin bin, with NRL officials believed to be happy with fines in some instances.
Even so, an analysis of the opening eight rounds of this season show 31 players have been sin-binned for dangerous acts.
Of those, 17 have received suspensions and 12 have been fined. On two occasions, the match review committee cleared them altogether.
In contrast, the match review committee has handed out 13 suspensions to players who were not sin-binned on field.
It means that of the 44 players sin-binned or suspended this season, the bunker and match review committee's stances have significantly differed on 15 of them.
Sin bin numbers do not include players ordered off the field for professional fouls, repeated infringements, fights, slaps or trips.
The issue was best highlighted in Canterbury's loss to Brisbane on Thursday night, where Broncos winger Deine Mariner was sin-binned for a high tackle on Viliame Kikau.
In the same game, Bulldogs pair Matt Burton and Sitili Tupouniua both avoided being penalised for contact with the head earlier in the second half.
By the next morning, the match review committee deemed Mariner's offence not worthy of even a fine and he escaped any charge.
Burton and Tupouniua's offences were ruled far more serious, handed grade-two charges, with the pair each facing bans.
The issue comes as several coaches questioned the NRL's crackdown over the weekend.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold pushed for the NRL to review its approach, while Penrith counterpart Ivan Cleary accused referees of over-correcting.
Cameron Ciraldo admitted the stoppages in the Bulldogs' match made it hard to watch, while Adam O'Brien questioned if rules designed to make the game faster were at fault.
Des Hasler again claimed sin bins were "spoiling" games, while Immortal Andrew Johns labelled the situation as "farcical", "embarrassing" and "beyond a joke".
"The breakdown of this sending players to the bin is absolutely farcical," Johns said on Nine's Sunday Footy Show.
FATE OF PLAYERS SIN-BINNED IN 2025
Players sin-binned for dangerous acts: 31
Suspended: 17
Fined: 12
Not charged: 2
SUSPENDED PLAYERS IN 2025
Sin-binned in game: 17
Penalised in game: 5
On report, no penalty: 4
No penalty, no report: 4
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