The NRL has reportedly sent a memo to all clubs in the finals that players will be sin-binned if they deliberately take out opponents to prevent them leaping for high balls. It comes after fans were left fuming that Kotoni Staggs wasn’t binned for blatantly grabbing Xavier Coates in the Broncos’ win over the Storm last round.
Coates is one of the best fliers in the NRL and scores a large percentage of his tries from bombs. There’s been suggestions the Storm are “exploiting a loophole” by kicking more to Coates this year, because defenders can’t tackle the attacking player in the air.
Cameron Munster (R) questioned the referee at the time as to why Kotoni Staggs (far left) wasn’t sin-binned. Image: Getty/Channel 9
Coates was awarded a penalty try in Round 23 against the Broncos when he was tackled in mid-air. When the two teams clashed again in Round 27, the Broncos clearly had a deliberate tactic to blunt the Storm high-flyer.
Early in the contest, the Storm were awarded a penalty when Staggs blatantly grabbed Coates and pulled him back before he even got a chance to jump for a high kick from Cameron Munster. Despite the referee penalising Staggs, many thought it should have been a sin-bin and Staggs was lucky to stay on the field.
On Thursday, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that NRL officials have now warned all clubs in the finals that similar actions to that of Staggs will result in a sin-bin. The NRL’s clubs liaison officer David Fairleigh reportedly made mention of the tactic in his weekly memo to all teams, and said the deliberate impeding of players trying to contest a kick won’t be tolerated.
Kotoni Staggs deliberately grabbed Xavier Coates, but wasn’t sin-binned. Image: Channel 9
Mal Meninga knew deliberate tactic was coming
Speaking well before the Broncos and Storm game, legendary coach Mal Meninga flagged the possibility that teams would start deliberately infringing so they didn’t run the risk of a penalty try. “I’d just tell them to escort and knock him out of the road,” Meninga said on SEN radio. “I’d give a penalty away as opposed to four points.”
However Meninga wouldn’t have expected something so blatant as what Staggs did. Rather than the typical ‘escort’ where players run a different line to try and shephard for their teammate who’s catching the ball, Staggs reached out and grabbed Coates with his hands. It was a clear professional foul, but it went largely unpunished.
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Speaking earlier this week, Coates called on the NRL to crack down. “I knew it was coming,” he said about Staggs’ tactic. “I just had to try my best to get myself into a good position to catch the ball. On that night, it obviously didn’t come off, but I’m not going to shy away from it. I’m going to keep sticking to my strengths and that’s one of my strengths.”
But he added: “It’d be nice if the refs helped out, but it’s also on myself. I need to get better with that and if teams want to do that I need to come up with a plan to counter those attacks that they’re doing.
“The onus is on myself and I can’t just rely on the refs to give me a good call. They might have (provided a blueprint) but like I said, I’m just going to back myself and keep doing what I’ve been doing all year and if it comes off, it comes off and if doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m going to keep sticking to my strengths.”