In short:
Roosters coach Trent Robinson has backed Wayne Bennett in calling for an overhaul of the NRL’s use of the sin bin.
Speaking after two opposition players were binned against his side at the weekend, Robinson believes the league may have “overcorrected”.
What’s next?
Robinson’s fourth-placed Roosters will face the St George Illawarra Dragons on Sunday afternoon.
Trent Robinson has joined Wayne Bennett in calling for an overhaul of the NRL’s use of the sin bin, claiming the sport must try to maintain the integrity of the game.
Adam Doueihi and Apsiai Koroisau were both binned against Robinson’s Sydney Roosters on Sunday night, at one stage leaving Wests Tigers with 11 men.
Together, the pair became the 70th and 71st players sin-binned in the opening 17 rounds of the season.
The issue prompted Bennett to last week urge the NRL to only use the sin bin for professional fouls, and leave dangerous play in the hands of the match review committee.
Robinson himself fears that contests are being ruined with the current rate of sin bins.
“It changes the course of the game completely,” Robinson said.
“That was the debate Wayne started a few days ago with some really good, honest discussion with the use of the bin and the use of weeks out.
“We want to keep the integrity of the game.”
Robinson was most questionable of Koroisau’s sin binning, after the Tigers captain spent time off the field for a dangerous throw on Lindsay Collins.
Beyond abolishing the sin bin for dangerous play, other options include a five-minute sin bin or allowing the offending player to return if the opposition scores.
Regardless, Robinson said it was something that needed to be discussed by the NRL, with the surge in sin bins since the 2021 crackdown.
“It benefited my team tonight but from a game perspective, it’s more about what should happen to keep our game going,” Robinson said.
“Then the match review [committee] has to do a good job in stamping those [tackles] out because we don’t want players getting grabbed between the legs.
“I don’t think anybody’s trying to get it wrong, it’s just we’re trying to get player safety up, which is really good for our game.
“But we’ve got to ask the question, ‘have we overcorrected?’
“How do we keep the contest in the game and deal with it [through suspensions] afterwards?”
Tigers coach Benji Marshall labelled Koroisau’s binning a 50-50 call, but was more frustrated by Doueihi landing in hot water for a hip-drop tackle on Dom Young.
“I don’t know what he’s supposed to do,” Marshall said.
“Sol [Faataape] puts on a good shot, sends [Young] backwards and Doueihi is just underneath him. It was a bit harsh.
“And Api’s one could have gone either way.
“It’s hard to know. It’s a lottery at the moment and we seem to be on the wrong end of it.”
Canberra mentor Ricky Stuart also labelled the NRL’s officiating of set restarts as a “guessing game” on Saturday night, while interim Parramatta coach Trent Barrett also claimed his side was continuously on the wrong end.
AAP
Sports content to make you think… or allow you not to. A newsletter delivered each Saturday.
Discussion about this post