Sad truth about Andrew Johns laid bare after NRL legend calls it quits mid-match
Leading journalists Danny Weidler and Michael Chammas have used Andrew Johns' extraordinary refusal to keep commentating the Cronulla and Wests Tigers game last Sunday to highlight the depths of the frustration being levelled at NRL officials. Johns launched a stunning silent protest while in the commentary box for Channel 9, and refused to call the final 23 minutes of the Tigers' win over the Sharks.
Johns' boycott was sparked by the sin-binning of Fonua Pole, which was arguably the most ridiculous out of a whopping 18 that occurred in Round 8. The game was brought to a halt so Pole could be sent to the bin for a completely innocuous incident on the previous set of six.
The Bunker official found that Pole had made contact with Tom Hazleton's head on the previous set, and ordered the on-field ref to go back and sin-bin him. The same situation occurred on Saturday night when Manly forward Sio Siua Taukeiaho was binned for a tackle on Isaiah Papalii in the previous set.
On both occasions the contact was so innocuous that neither of Hazelton or Papalii even reacted, and certainly didn't need to undergo a head injury assessment (HIA). On Monday, NRL boss Andrew Abdo conceded both sin-binnings shouldn't have happened and said the Bunker will only get involved on serious incidents of foul play moving forward.
Before Abdo came out and admitted the crackdown on high contact had gone too far, Johns launched a furious tirade about the situation on the Sunday Footy Show. It was later revealed that he put the microphone down and refused to speak for the rest of the match after Pole was binned.
Discussing Johns' silent protest on Wednesday, Weidler and Chammas said it shows the NRL has a serious problem. "I found it really hard to watch," Weidler said on Triple M podcast 'The Journos'. "I was fascinated to learn about Andrew Johns putting his microphone down for the last 23 minutes and refusing to call it.
"When a legend and an Immortal of the game is doing that, we've got a problem. Joey (Johns) has enough skin in the game to do what he likes. He's passionate about it and the fact a legend of the game is doing that should be a worry for the NRL."
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Chammas applauded the NRL for coming out and admitting the situation had descended too far. "I'm not saying that everything Joey said has to be followed, but it's good that the NRL haven't just doubled down and thought 'stuff everyone else'," he added. "Because that could have been a path they went down and just said 'we're going to continue doing this because we believe it's right'."
The NRL's crackdown on high contact was sparked by a number of tackles in the opening two rounds that deserved to draw a sin-bin, but officials failed to do so. By penalising players and suspending them, the NRL is covering its own back in case anyone launches legal action down the track and claims they didn't do enough to protect players.
But the sin-binning of players for innocuous incidents that occurred in previous sets went way too far. NRL head of football Graham Annesley told AAP on Monday: "If it's at the lower end of the scale, we don't want the game stopped and players put in the bin for incidents that can be dealt with by way of report and reviewed by the match committee later."
That came after Johns labelled the situation "embarrassing" for the game and "beyond a joke". He said on the Footy Show: "The over-analysis and the overreach of the Bunker in play ... the Bunker should be used only for try-scoring opportunities unless it's a send-off. If it's an out-and-out send-off and they miss it, then fair enough, come in and send the player off."
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