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Six degrees of dispensation: how new rule has actually empowered referees
The balance of power between coach and referee has tilted towards the whistleblowers this NRL season and threatens to have a major influence on the outcome of the three remaining finals matches.
Today’s referees have neither the power nor the flaws of 1980s men like Greg “Hollywood” Hartley, Kevin “Bilko” Roberts and Barry “The Grasshopper” Gomersall, who could blow imagined penalties for myriad scrum infringements.
For example, when QRL boss Senator Ron McAuliffe and NSW’s Ken Arthurson once debated the choice of venue and referee for one of the early State of Origin matches, Arko told McAuliffe, "You can’t have the match in Brisbane and have a Queensland referee as well."
McAuliffe responded: "What about we play at Lang Park and I tell the Grasshopper to be fair dinkum?"
They are all fair dinkum today, in the sense that bias is rare, yet their power has been enhanced by a new ruck infringement rule which allows them to signal six more tackles for any one of multiple breaches in the play-the-ball.
Such infringements are not obvious because they are blown on the run and are often not published in statistics reports.
The 'six again' rule was introduced to reduce the impact of refereeing on NRL games but has actually empowered the whistleblowers further.
As one former referee of the 1980s said, "Their influence on the outcome of matches has come back to a degree but it is now more covert than overt."
In the Rabbitohs' record win over the Roosters in round 20, the Roosters scored the first try but both the penalty and ruck infringement count went against them 6-1 (a combined 12-2) and they lost 60-8.
Ruck infringements average about eight per game but there is a big difference, for example, between conceding a six again on the first tackle when the attacking team is coming off its own line, and receiving one on the last tackle when you have the ball deep in opposition territory.
The timing of them is also critical. Canberra “lost” the six again count to the Roosters 5-3 on Friday night but their first and third tries came as a result of ruck infringement against Jake Friend and Isaac Liu respectively giving the Raiders a 16-0 lead.
Jake Friend remonstrates with referee Ashley Klein during the Roosters' loss to Canberra on Friday.
Champion Data also confirmed the Roosters' final try came from a six again call against Joseph Tapine, setting up the final 22-18 scoreline.
Admittedly, the Rabbitohs' 38-24 victory over the Eels the following evening did not turn on ruck infringements with a 5-4 count.
Six agains are very subjective. Coaches who review them post-match admit they find multiple examples of precisely the same infringement (hand on ball, slow peel, flop, holding down) which were not penalised.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley argues the purpose of the six again rule, combined with a single referee, was to take the influence of the match officials out of games. After all, if a referee can blow a ruck infringement on the run, rather than stop a match for a penalty, it reduces the exposure on him.
(It was also done to make the game more attractive for TV via fewer stoppages).
Yet referees are having more influence and their role, particularly in the first weekend of the finals, suggested the whistleblowers had more impact on the outcome of matches than the clipboard carriers.
Fatigue is a major factor in 2020. The six again rule has quickened the pace of the game, and all teams move up a gear at semi-final time.
The balance of power between coach and referee has tilted towards the whistleblowers this NRL season and threatens to have a major influence on the outcome of the three remaining finals matches.
Today’s referees have neither the power nor the flaws of 1980s men like Greg “Hollywood” Hartley, Kevin “Bilko” Roberts and Barry “The Grasshopper” Gomersall, who could blow imagined penalties for myriad scrum infringements.
For example, when QRL boss Senator Ron McAuliffe and NSW’s Ken Arthurson once debated the choice of venue and referee for one of the early State of Origin matches, Arko told McAuliffe, "You can’t have the match in Brisbane and have a Queensland referee as well."
McAuliffe responded: "What about we play at Lang Park and I tell the Grasshopper to be fair dinkum?"
They are all fair dinkum today, in the sense that bias is rare, yet their power has been enhanced by a new ruck infringement rule which allows them to signal six more tackles for any one of multiple breaches in the play-the-ball.
Such infringements are not obvious because they are blown on the run and are often not published in statistics reports.
The 'six again' rule was introduced to reduce the impact of refereeing on NRL games but has actually empowered the whistleblowers further.
As one former referee of the 1980s said, "Their influence on the outcome of matches has come back to a degree but it is now more covert than overt."
In the Rabbitohs' record win over the Roosters in round 20, the Roosters scored the first try but both the penalty and ruck infringement count went against them 6-1 (a combined 12-2) and they lost 60-8.
Ruck infringements average about eight per game but there is a big difference, for example, between conceding a six again on the first tackle when the attacking team is coming off its own line, and receiving one on the last tackle when you have the ball deep in opposition territory.
The timing of them is also critical. Canberra “lost” the six again count to the Roosters 5-3 on Friday night but their first and third tries came as a result of ruck infringement against Jake Friend and Isaac Liu respectively giving the Raiders a 16-0 lead.
Jake Friend remonstrates with referee Ashley Klein during the Roosters' loss to Canberra on Friday.
Champion Data also confirmed the Roosters' final try came from a six again call against Joseph Tapine, setting up the final 22-18 scoreline.
Admittedly, the Rabbitohs' 38-24 victory over the Eels the following evening did not turn on ruck infringements with a 5-4 count.
Six agains are very subjective. Coaches who review them post-match admit they find multiple examples of precisely the same infringement (hand on ball, slow peel, flop, holding down) which were not penalised.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley argues the purpose of the six again rule, combined with a single referee, was to take the influence of the match officials out of games. After all, if a referee can blow a ruck infringement on the run, rather than stop a match for a penalty, it reduces the exposure on him.
(It was also done to make the game more attractive for TV via fewer stoppages).
Yet referees are having more influence and their role, particularly in the first weekend of the finals, suggested the whistleblowers had more impact on the outcome of matches than the clipboard carriers.
Fatigue is a major factor in 2020. The six again rule has quickened the pace of the game, and all teams move up a gear at semi-final time.
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