Rugby League: Ricky Stuart blows up over Sin Bin, official troubles expose NRL error weekend

Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart fired a shot to the heart of the NRL, exploding at his press conference after another weekend of bunker and umpire errors.

NRL football chief Graham Annesley will have a lot of work to do when he checks Monday’s weekend with several high-profile mistakes and coaches asking umpires lots of questions.

It started Thursday with Jaxson Paulo’s foot sliding into touch before landing the ball for the Rabbitohs against the Bulldogs, before Eels coach Brad Arthur had trouble with Junior Paulo’s report, and his captain Clint Gutherson. exploded by an arbitration error that cost. his side a try against the Broncos.

Sharks coach John Morris let the umpire not stop the game after Josh Dugan was also injured against the Roosters on a weekend that saw a lot of animosity from umpires.

But the most explosive shot came from Stuart, who criticized the officers, and Annesley himself, a new one at an incredible press conference.

Stuart threw a bottle of water angrily after five-eighth star Jack Wighton was ejected for offside after repeated penalties.

Despite the problem that happened in the first half, Stuart had not calmed down at the end of the game.

“It was a shocking soccer game,” he said.

“If we had put in some lineouts when the ball came out, we would have had two rugby games here in two days … embarrassing.

“If my team was giving away those penalties, that’s fine, they penalized us for that, but they were doing the same kind of things and they weren’t penalized for it.

“This is not the first time, it really frustrates me and if I say something you get your money back, so I don’t need to say anything more about it. But I don’t think it was both ways as far as they were penalizing us.”

Stuart was enraged for Wighton’s sin bin, as the fifth-eighth was quick to press as the Warriors received a 10-meter penalty.

And the Raiders couldn’t review the penalty, either.

“The Jack Wighton crap, would they have been the same decisions if it had been a semifinal? I hope not because he was not offside. You can’t make that mistake,” he said.

“I just talked to the guy there and he said ‘I do that every week. I know the timing and the criteria, that’s my job.’

Stuart then took aim directly at the NRL football head.

“Graham Annesley is a really nice man, he’s been in the game for a long time, but when it comes to rugby league, Graham Annesley and I are separate planets,” he said.

“Thank God there is COVID because I tell you that we will not have more than 6,000 in these games.”

When asked if he will speak to the NRL about his issues with officials, Stuart said, “no, I will not raise any points.”

“I will do my review and they will do their review, they will hide with their results and the game will start again next week,” he added.

“I’ve been in the game long enough to know and see where we create a foul and get penalized, I understand that. Then when you see the opponents doing the exact same thing, I hope the penalty is there as well.”

Stuart wasn’t the only one to criticize the league, as the coach garnered a high-profile endorsement.

Phil Gould backed the Raiders coach for lack of action on complaints, which are getting louder and faster.

“Ricky Stuart’s post-game press conference is the epitome of frustration. Many in this game know exactly how he feels. Unfortunately, the greatest frustration comes from knowing that those who express such frustration are either ignored or marked as troublemakers. the beat goes on, “Gould tweeted.

Speaking about Fox League’s Big League Wrap, Michael Ennis was concerned about problems on the field that were taking his game away.

“Heading into the final series, some of the decisions made from the bunker and the field officials are alarming,” Ennis said. “I’m starting to lose confidence heading into the finals series when you see a key player at a critical moment sinning.”

The Raiders made two attempts during the man handicap, but can’t expect the same luxury during the final.

Ennis also called referee Chris Sutton “too pedantic” and said it was concerning that with two weeks to go, he and Annesley were so far apart.

At the end of the game, the bunker was called twice for a possible kick and a fly-in; both coming back were wrong decisions.

This prompted commentator Greg Alexander to say “I don’t know where we go from here … well I actually said let’s get rid of the bunker, let’s go back to a video referee on the ground.”