Well it seems the media have finally worked it out, now all we need is the NRL to do the same.
In the article it says the Storm risk causing injury to opposition players. They are not just risking it because it has already happened. The Storm know what they have done but still work on new methods of foul play. For some unknown reason this club seem to be not only rewarded but held in high esteem by the NRL when all they are is a cancer on the game.
There are good sports, then there are the storm.
Link to story below.
Replies
It was no coincidence that Alex McKinnon suffered his injury in a game against the Storm.
It’s not just the storm every team does it
Everyone else gets penalized , that is the point, storm know that the refs will not blow 20 penalties against one team, therefore 9 or 10 times a game they are getting away with it, brilliant tactic but very grubby.
All teams exploit the penalty.
Give asay a few penalties on the line early in the set to re-set your defense
Test the refs for holding down in the tackle or standing offside to see what you can get away with.
This is no different it's just that other teams get scared after 1 or 2 penalties for crusher etc type tackles the storm don't
Melbourne are the best at it but everyone does it
Not true Trent! The Storm started this rubbish years ago and the corrupt NRL and their Gestapo the referees failed to stop it and other teams have attempted to follow their ways but have failed to get anywhere near as close to the Storms filthy tactics led but the grub clown Smith!
If you give a way a deliberate penalty or it’s foul play you go straight to the bin. Penalties won’t stop the rubbish being a man or two short will.
Why do the refs have to give a warning before binning for repeated infringements. Canberra’s Josh Hodgson was intentionaly offside by miles last week multiple times. Bin him the first time and you cut the rubbish.
im happy for the refs to bin players left right and centre to get rid of the garbage in the game and the fans mostly would be happy with how the game would look as a result.
The refs need to have bigger balls and just send them to the sin bin. They will get the message soon enough.
The Storm are that good, conceding a few penalties is no big deal for them. Whereas, conceding a penalty against the Storm, will most likely result in a Storm try.
I think it's important not to conflate the issues.
The Storm training their players to 'legally' perform crusher tackles from the side (as opposed to the back) is one issue that needs to stamped out for the wellfare of the players playing against the Storm. It's not inconceivable the Storm could be fined as a Club if that argument (made by Kent) has merit.
The second argument that Crawley was making is the referees allow the Storm to get away with more than their fair share of tactics designed to slow the speed of the ruck so they can set their defence. Crawley did not offer any explanation as to why this is occurring. Rather, he said the fans are not mugs and they are not making it up. I think there is merit to that argument. It always feels as though the Storm get away with far too much when it comes to slowing the play of the ball.
Perhaps it is the 'Cameron Smith effect'. Perhaps it is because the NRL needed the Storm to be successful (as the only Victorian team) years ago and it became the accepted norm. Perhaps the Storm disguise their foul play better than everyone else by meticulously practicing how to best push the envelope without having players binned. Perhaps it is a combination of all those factors and more.
Irrespective, it would be awesome to see the refs crack down on them and give the teams who don't meticulously exploit foul play to their advantage (as well as the Storm, I acknowledge every team does it to some extent) a better chance.
I believe that every team should be treated exactly the same in regard to penalties, no team needs nor should have special treatment given to them by anyone in control and that includes the refs in particular. The NRL has a so called integrity committee, what do they do outside of investigate things like player behaviour and the like such as we have seen this week with Shaun Lane, but what else do they do?
Perhaps if they were to view with open minds each round of matches and the performances of players and the way the refs control the game. There is the technology available for them to watch what is going on in every area of the game. There's an article in NRL.com https://www.nrl.com/news/2019/08/15/storm-surprised-no-ban-for-nels... dealing with aspects of the storm, if one looks at the big photo of Solomona, you can see he has the ball on his chest held in his righ arm, what is clearly visible is his left arm is cocked and used to push into the souths players neck area with his forearm. The souths player has his head/neck pushed sideways as he is being pushed off by Solomona. In many ways it appears legal but you have a huge man with big physique, that dwarfs many other players and he can use that in what I say is not in the spirit of the game.
Thing is it may or may not be legal, if it is legal then we have to suck it up, but if borderline and not not legal then the Integrity/rules committee should be able to make reccomendations in regard to these areas. RL is a tough game, many great players have played above their weight and we still have them in the game, so I am not advocating for making the game into a powder puff game but one that tries to have a game that is played on a level footing across the board and fields.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next