'Rubbish': Wayne Bennett lets rip at NRL in rare move as fans cop unwanted update
South Sydney Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has ripped into the NRL after a record number of sin bins on the weekend with the head of football Graham Annesley admitting the governing body won't back down. One of the most respected figures in the NRL, Bennett was left fuming with the state of the game on Tuesday having torn into the code after a record 18 players were sent to the sin bin on the weekend.
The Rabbitohs lost Latrell Mitchell in the second-half during their loss to the Melbourne Storm with the fullback slapped with a one-game ban for his collision with Sua Fa'alogo. The incident divided fans, but former NRL player Mat Rogers defended Mitchell and suggested the fullback should be playing Magic Round this weekend.
One frustrating aspect for coaches in 2025 is they are not allowed to criticise certain decisions unless they are prepared to cop a fine. This has led to silence or cryptic messages from many coaches in the post-game press conferences.
After the chaos from the weekend, CEO Andrew Abdo insisted there will be "less intervention" from the bunker moving forward after a number of players were sent to the bin for challenges that occurred in previous sets. Although Bennett hasn't let the NRL get off that easily ahead of Magic Round.
Speaking on Triple M Radio, Bennett was told the NRL wouldn't retrospectively bin a player during Magic Round like they did in round eight. And - in a rare move for coaches in 2025 - the veteran figure let rip at how the games officials have let the NRL unravel to the point fans, players and coaches are all confused.
"It shouldn't have started. I got no idea what goes through their minds, these people. We pay them a lot of money to do a job. We are in the football department and have to produce performances on the field, these guys are in the back rooms but they have got to get there stuff together and got to get it right. Three or four years ago this happened, nobody wanted it then...it's absolutely rubbish," Bennett said on Tuesday.
"Here is the point, they have got a judiciary that puts the charges out 24 hours after we play...if we have missed something they handle it. But don't take the game back three or four minutes ago, and go over that. That's not what the game wants."
Bennett couldn't help but laugh at the situation after he was once again told the bunker wouldn't review decisions from previous sets heading into Magic Round. While Bennett appears to share the same thought as many NRL fans watching the game in frustration, head of football Annesley admitted the game won't back down on penalising high-tackles.
Many voices in the game have called for NRL head of football Annesley to address the drama from the weekend with fans fed up with the confusion. There were a number of incidents from the weekend where players escaped a sin bin, while others thought some head-high tackles didn't deserve 10 minutes on the sideline.
But it appears referees won't be told to change their view on dangerous tackles, but attempt to make a better judgement on whether the player needs time in the bin. Speaking on SEN Radio with Jimmy Smith, Annesley backed the NRL's stance on high-tackles and claimed the referees got most of the calls right on the weekend.
'Having reviewed all of the incidents that were sin bins last weekend, there's not too many of them that wouldn't have been sin bins,' Annesley admitted on Tuesday. 'We did have an exceptional weekend with a number of incidents and there were probably a couple that were missed that weren't sin binned as well that could have been.
'We're not going to back away from contact with the… unnecessary forceful contact with the head and neck of players… but we just need the referees to get that balance right between the incidents that do deserve to go to the bin and those that may have mitigation or perhaps don't reach that bar to turn something from a penalty into a sin bin. We just need to spend more time getting that right and hopefully, we'll see that happen this coming weekend and beyond.'
"Having reviewed all of the incidents... there's not too many of them that wouldn't have been sin bins... but we just need the referees to get that balance right!"Graham Annesley comments on the NRL high tackle crackdown and how it will be approached in Magic Round!#NRL pic.twitter.com/1uoedDtjW3
— SEN League (@SENLeague) April 29, 2025
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