NRL 2025: Andrew Abdo defends ARLC Commission's new judiciary power
Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has hosed down concerns from Panthers coach Ivan Cleary and the Rugby League Players Association over changes to the judiciary system that give the Australian Rugby League Commission new powers to charge players for on-field offences.
The RLPA revealed last week it had 'serious concerns' with the decision to amend the judiciary code that gives the ARLC 'absolute discretion and extraordinary powers' to charge players.
Cleary doubled down on Tuesday and said the lack of faith in the match review committee was 'disturbing', but Abdo is imploring people to not read too much into it.
'It's not a matter of intervention, this is an insurance policy that the commission has identified to make sure that the policy as set by the commission is being applied,' he said.
'All it really means is that the commission is able to, on very rare circumstances, if ever, apply to the judiciary to review a matter that may have been missed by the match review committee or may have, in their view, not been graded appropriately.
'There could be an upwards movement of the grading, it could be a downwards movement of the grading. This would be in very rare, exceptional circumstances as an insurance policy.
'It's not a case of us being in a situation where we're going to see this applied regularly, if at all, but it is there as an important insurance policy.
'The commission has no powers to make a final decision, those powers will sit with the judiciary.'
Abdo was also forced to address Cleary's comments about the MRC following its decision to suspend Scott Sorensen for a tackle that injured Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
The Panthers coach was furious with the call and said the rule needed to be looked at.
'The actual hip-drop rule, I don't even know who wrote it or when it was written. It's very vague and nothing like why it was brought in,' he said.
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Don't miss out on the headlines from NRL. Followed categories will be added to My News. NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has hosed down concerns from Panthers coach Ivan Cleary and the Rugby League Players Association over changes to the judiciary system that give the Australian Rugby League Commission new powers to charge players for on-field offences. The RLPA revealed last week it had 'serious concerns' with the decision to amend the judiciary code that gives the ARLC 'absolute discretion and extraordinary powers' to charge players. Cleary doubled down on Tuesday and said the lack of faith in the match review committee was 'disturbing', but Abdo is imploring people to not read too much into it. 'It's not a matter of intervention, this is an insurance policy that the commission has identified to make sure that the policy as set by the commission is being applied,' he said. 'All it really means is that the commission is able to, on very rare circumstances, if ever, apply to the judiciary to review a matter that may have been missed by the match review committee or may have, in their view, not been graded appropriately. 'There could be an upwards movement of the grading, it could be a downwards movement of the grading. This would be in very rare, exceptional circumstances as an insurance policy. 'It's not a case of us being in a situation where we're going to see this applied regularly, if at all, but it is there as an important insurance policy. 'The commission has no powers to make a final decision, those powers will sit with the judiciary.' Abdo was also forced to address Cleary's comments about the MRC following its decision to suspend Scott Sorensen for a tackle that injured Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. The Panthers coach was furious with the call and said the rule needed to be looked at. 'The actual hip-drop rule, I don't even know who wrote it or when it was written. It's very vague and nothing like why it was brought in,' he said.
