Latest news with #NRLPanthersManly
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fresh Panthers blow as Sorensen cops three-game NRL ban
Reigning NRL premiers Penrith have suffered another blow in their season of struggle, with valuable back-rower Scott Sorensen hit with a three-game suspension. Sorensen said he was disappointed by the verdict after he headed to the judiciary on Tuesday accompanied by coach Ivan Cleary and Panthers football manager Matt Cameron. He was seeking a downgrade to a grade-two shoulder charge after the 32-year-old had been cited for an illegal hit on Manly prop Nathan Brown in the Panthers' 26-10 loss on Saturday. If successful in having his charge reduced to grade one, Sorensen would have escaped with a $1000 fine and would have been free to play Brisbane at Magic Round on Sunday. But the trade-off was that the New Zealand Test forward, who pleaded guilty to the tackle and was sin-binned by referee Belinda Sharpe on the night, risked adding a further one-week suspension to a two-game ban. And Penrith's worst-case scenario came to fruition after just 15 minutes of deliberation by the panel of Bob Lindner and ex-referee Sean Hampstead, who upheld the match review committee's grade-two charge. "It's disappointing. I completely understand the process and what's happened," Sorensen told AAP. "Our club here at Penrith, I appreciate their support through it all and, as I say, it's disappointing but that's the way it goes." Sorensen will now miss games against Brisbane, North Queensland and Newcastle, at a time when the Panthers' season (2-6) is on life support. Bottom-placed Penrith will have to defy history if they are to make it to September, given that over the past 30 years no team placed last from round eight onwards has recovered to make the finals. Scott Sorensen was sent to the sin bin for this shoulder charge. 📺 Watch #NRLPanthersManly on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: BLOG MATCH CENTRE — Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 26, 2025 The absence of Sorensen is another headache for Penrith coach Cleary, but the suspended forward is backing his teammates to turn a corner. "I have complete faith in our team and our squad, who are excited and ready to prepare for a big game on Sunday," Sorensen said. "Unfortunately I won't be there, but I'll be doing everything I can to make sure they are prepared and ready to go." The NRL's legal representative Patrick Knowles argued across an hour-long hearing that Brown had no time to react and protect himself from a shoulder charge. Knowles said Sorensen's shoulder charge could have had far greater consequences - Brown suffered no known injury - and argued the grading was higher because of the potential risk to the Manly forward. Sorensen's lawyer, Nick Ghabar, unsuccessfully argued that Brown, who sprinted 25m before making contact at top speed, contributed to the force of the collision with both his velocity and late footwork at the line. He said Sorensen's attempts to wrap his right arm were an indication of the care he showed for himself and Brown. But that did not wash with the panel, who stuck solid with the match review committee's findings. Bench forward Mavrik Geyer looms as the most likely replacement for Sorensen in Sunday's clash with Brisbane. Sorensen will be free to return in the Panthers' round 13 clash with bitter rivals Parramatta.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NRL boss flags major bunker change amid backlash over 'embarrassing' scenes
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo insists there will be "less intervention" from the bunker moving forward after addressing the widespread backlash from a controversial weekend of footy. Round eight saw a staggering 18 players sent to the sin bin, with some of those incidents not even worthy of a binning, while other more serious offences weren't similarly punished. The NRL chief executive admitted mistakes were made by officials across the round and accepted the 'frustrations' of fans after the bunker interjected numerous times to initiate sin-bin calls several plays after the initial offence. Wests Tigers prop Fonua Pole was binned in one such incident against Cronulla on Sunday that left league legend Andrew Johns so incensed he refused to speak on Nine's broadcast for 23 minutes. Johns also fumed over Scott Sorensen's sin-binning for a high shot on Manly's Nathan Brown, after questioning how else the Panthers forward was supposed to tackle the rampaging Sea Eagles forward. Brown was charging at full-speed off a kick-off and Sorensen's shoulder accidentally caught the Manly prop in the head as he braced for contact, but many argued that it was simply an accident that is part of the game. Sorensen faces a two-game ban after being hit with a grade-two dangerous contact charge that Penrith are hoping to get downgraded at the judiciary. If the Panthers are successful, Sorensen faces a $1500 fine but will be free to take on the Broncos in Magic Round. However, the Penrith forward faces a three-game ban if he's unsuccessful. It's the first major test for the judiciary this season, amid concerns there is a disconnect between on-field decisions by officials and the gradings from the match review committee. There have already been 31 players sin-binned for dangerous acts this season, with 17 resulting in suspensions, 12 in fines and two resulting in no punishment at all. Scott Sorensen was sent to the sin bin for this shoulder charge. 📺 Watch #NRLPanthersManly on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: BLOG MATCH CENTRE — Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 26, 2025 The latest controversies have left fans' confidence in the state of NRL officiating at an all-time low and the NRL CEO appeared on multiple programs on TV and radio on Monday night to address the backlash. He accepted that mistakes had been made by officials but insisted there had not been a directive to crack down on high contact after making no apologies for referees trying to protect the players. RELATED: Why Terrell May is a 'must-pick' for Origin as Blues coach drops hint Luai rejects ugly claim about Galvin as Tigers young gun breaks silence Papenhuyzen 'prime target' for newest team amid potential $2m first But Abdo accepted the bunker was playing too big a role in games and said the video officials had been instructed to only get involved for the most serious acts of foul play that warranted sin bins. 'I think there were some calls that were wrong and look and we understand some of the frustration, particularly when the bunker intervenes in play a number of plays down the track,' Abdo said. 'We can understand why there's frustration with that. The bar for that was always intended to be quite high. It needs to be serious or significant foul play for the bunker to intervene and to bin someone once the play is moved on. That's something that we want to work on with the referees.' The NRL boss also warned players against trying to milk penalties by staying down or exaggerating contact from opposition players. He was speaking in reference to an incident with Cronulla's Ronaldo Mulitalo against the Tigers on Sunday that Johns and fellow league great Paul Gallen both detested and fans labelled 'embarrassing' after the Sharks appealed for a penalty due when Jack Bird's fingers brushed Mulitalo's face. Players like Mulitalo carrying on holding their face trying to milk penalities and sin bins are the actual WORST I'm glad the ref called it incidental #NRLTigersSharks — Nikki (@Easts4Life) April 27, 2025 Does it all the — Duke25 (@Duke2517) April 27, 2025 Mulitalo is the biggest milker holy shit 🤢 — Picasstonian (@hf2_0_2_) April 27, 2025 "We don't want to see that. We don't want to see a situation where we're set up to fail and encouraging players to milk penalties, that's the last thing we want," Abdo said on Nine's 100% Footy. "I think some of the decisions the referees have made despite that are phenomenal and they deserve credit for that because it is difficult in those situations." Abdo was adamant that officiating decisions would not ruin Magic Round in Brisbane this weekend, amid growing concerns. He said: "I can say that we review each and every match each and every round and we've looked at some of the errors that occurred this weekend and we want to make sure that they don't get repeated. So I think that what you're going to see is definitely less intervention from the Bunker when play has moved on."
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Panthers take action against NRL as Andrew Johns erupts over 'embarrassing' farce
The Penrith Panthers will challenge Scott Sorensen's two-match ban at the NRL judiciary in a major examination of the league's crackdown on high contact. The Panthers back-rower was sin-binned on Saturday night for a shoulder charge that collected Manly prop Nathan Brown in the head. Brown wasn't even required to leave the field for a head injury assessment (HIA), but Sorensen was given his marching orders for 10 minutes. On Sunday morning, the match review committee hit Sorensen with a grade-two charge, which carries a two-game suspension with an early guilty plea. But the Panthers will challenge the ruling at the NRL judiciary and are seeing a downgrade to a grade-one charge. That would result in just a $1500 fine and leave Soresen free to take on the Broncos in Brisbane in Magic Round. If the Panthers are unsuccessful at the judiciary, Sorensen will be wiped out for three games and miss matches against the Cowboys and Knights as well. The hearing will be a true test of how on-board the judiciary is with the NRL's crackdown on high contact. Scott Sorensen was sent to the sin bin for this shoulder charge. 📺 Watch #NRLPanthersManly on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: BLOG MATCH CENTRE — Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 26, 2025 A whopping 18 players were sin-binned in Round 8 - the majority for high tackles - after the NRL started clamping down on contact to the head about a month ago. The situation seemed to ramp up last weekend as multiple players were sin-binned in the next set of six following innocuous incidents. Speaking on Channel 9 on Sunday, Andrew Johns urged NRL officials to make a public statement about what a player is supposed to do in Sorensen's situation. Johns pointed out that Sorensen risked injury to himself if he didn't brace for the contact or tried to tackle low, and would like dislocate a shoulder or elbow by wrapping his arms in such close proximity to teammates. 'They want players to defend low, but if Scott Sorensen goes low on Nathan Brown he's gonna knock himself out as cold as a spud,' Johns said on the Footy Show. 'If he wraps his arms, he will dislocate his shoulder – he has to brace and get himself into space. I have no idea what the NRL want this tackle to be and they have to come out tomorrow and explain what tackle they want in this situation. "The breakdown of this sending players to the bin is absolutely farcical. It's gone beyond a joke. It is embarrassing. 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. "Going back eight plays in a set of six where the referee doesn't see it, the touch judges don't see it, the players don't see it ... to send someone to the bin is absolutely farcical." Tellingly, there's already seems to be a disconnect between the on-field calls being made and the match review committee. 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. But the NRL has lowered the marker for a sin-bin in recent weeks, with officials believed to be happy with fines in some instances. RELATED: Selwyn Cobbo delivers dagger to Broncos in huge call on NRL future Kalyn Ponga's switch to rival team gathers steam amid glaring move Across the opening eight rounds, there have been 31 players 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 been different on 15 of them. with AAP
