Latest news with #NRLRules
The Star
16-05-2025
- Sport
- The Star
Rugby League-NRL clubs face fines for ball-squirting trainers
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Two National Rugby League teams are facing A$10,000 ($6,431) fines as punishment for on-pitch trainers dousing the ball with water from drinks bottles to make it harder to catch during a match in Townsville last weekend. Reigning champions Penrith Panthers and North Queensland Cowboys were locked up at 30-30 last Saturday after the regulation 80 minutes, sending the game into "golden point" extra time. Panthers trainer Shane Elford, who also serves as the club's general manager of football, was spotted by the referee squirting the ball with liquid from a drinks bottle before his team kicked off the first extra period. Another ball was brought onto the field but it later transpired that home trainer Mitch Dunn had been spotted by officials doing the same thing before another kickoff during extra time. The NRL on Friday served the clubs breach notices, giving them five days to respond or accept the fines along with two-game bans for the offending trainers. "During the match, trainers from both clubs were observed squirting liquid onto the football prior to kick restarts of play, in contravention of the NRL Rules," the league said in a statement. "The NRL has ... reminded all clubs about the limitations of the roles of trainers on match days." In the event, neither team was able to score during the additional 10 minutes and the match finished in a draw, a relative rarity in the league since sudden-death extra time was introduced in 2003. ($1 = 1.5550 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)
West Australian
15-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Final warning: Cowboys coach cautioned for ref comments
Todd Payten has been handed a final warning to stop criticising match officials after the North Queensland coach struggled to contain himself during a post-match tirade. Payten took aim at a handful of refereeing decisions in his side's 30-30 draw with Penrith last Saturday, saying he would not accept similar "howlers" from his players. The coach felt the referees missed a forward pass ahead of a Penrith try and were incorrect to penalise Murray Taulagi for a high tackle that allowed the Panthers to move upfield and score. "One of the (Panthers') tries was off a forward pass so I tell you how to fix that. Make the right call ... Get it right. Get it right," Payten said. "I'll talk to the NRL through the week, go through the right channels, but it's just white noise. 'Yeah, we got that wrong'. But no one's held accountable for it. "If it's my player making error after error, or a couple of howlers, then there's a fair chance he's not in the team." On Thursday, the NRL released a statement firing back at Payten for his "repeated and consistent criticism", which the league said dated back five years. While serving as interim Warriors coach in 2020, Payten said he had given referees boss Bernard Sutton a "piece of (my) mind" over calls that had "infuriated" him in a loss to Gold Coast. In 2022, he questioned whether in-form teams were given "the benefit of the doubt" by referees more than their struggling rivals, and said later that season the bunker was "too inconsistent" in officiating sin bins. The NRL has pledged a harsher stance on negative post-match commentary towards referees. "Mr Payten has been reminded of his obligations under the NRL Rules and Code of Conduct as well as his general responsibility as a sporting leader to set an appropriate example to grassroots and junior participants across the broader rugby league community," the NRL said in a statement. Payten's Cowboys host Manly on Saturday night.
Perth Now
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Final warning: Cowboys coach cautioned for ref comments
Todd Payten has been handed a final warning to stop criticising match officials after the North Queensland coach struggled to contain himself during a post-match tirade. Payten took aim at a handful of refereeing decisions in his side's 30-30 draw with Penrith last Saturday, saying he would not accept similar "howlers" from his players. The coach felt the referees missed a forward pass ahead of a Penrith try and were incorrect to penalise Murray Taulagi for a high tackle that allowed the Panthers to move upfield and score. "One of the (Panthers') tries was off a forward pass so I tell you how to fix that. Make the right call ... Get it right. Get it right," Payten said. "I'll talk to the NRL through the week, go through the right channels, but it's just white noise. 'Yeah, we got that wrong'. But no one's held accountable for it. "If it's my player making error after error, or a couple of howlers, then there's a fair chance he's not in the team." On Thursday, the NRL released a statement firing back at Payten for his "repeated and consistent criticism", which the league said dated back five years. While serving as interim Warriors coach in 2020, Payten said he had given referees boss Bernard Sutton a "piece of (my) mind" over calls that had "infuriated" him in a loss to Gold Coast. In 2022, he questioned whether in-form teams were given "the benefit of the doubt" by referees more than their struggling rivals, and said later that season the bunker was "too inconsistent" in officiating sin bins. The NRL has pledged a harsher stance on negative post-match commentary towards referees. "Mr Payten has been reminded of his obligations under the NRL Rules and Code of Conduct as well as his general responsibility as a sporting leader to set an appropriate example to grassroots and junior participants across the broader rugby league community," the NRL said in a statement. Payten's Cowboys host Manly on Saturday night.
