‘Left with no alternative’: NRL flags potential rule changes to combat milking
The NRL has escalated its efforts to stamp out players feigning injury or “milking” for penalties by threatening coaches with a mandatory stint off the field for all players who stay down after a tackle.
The NRL has been hit by allegations of players feigning injury in recent weeks as teams seek to take advantage of the game’s welfare edict. NSW and Queensland even had to strike a “gentlemen’s agreement” to not let milking, or diving, ruin the opening State of Origin game.
Increasingly frustrated NRL football boss Graham Annesley said on Thursday that the game would be forced to consider new rule changes if coaches and players did not begin to self regulate the problem.
Annesley said the NRL had several rule-change options to use if milking continued, including mandating a head injury assessment for any player who acted like they had been hit in the head.
Another would be to make a player who stayed down leave the field for one to two minutes, in the same vein as when a trainer stops the game for an injury.
Being left with 12 players, even for a short period, would potentially see coaches motivated enough to step in and order players to cut it out.
“If we think a trend develops and it continues then we will be left with no alternative but to look at rule change options at the end of the season to try and address it,” Annesley said.
Annesley said he did not expect any more changes to be implemented this season but that it was ultimately not his decision.
“The commission has shown in the past they are prepared to be agile when they need to be so it’s not beyond the realms of possibility,” he said.
“At the moment what we are preparing to do is appeal to players and coaches to ensure this doesn’t become a major problem in our game.”
Annesley last week flagged that the match review committee had the power to fine or suspend players if they were found to be faking injury by charging them with contrary conduct.
During his weekly briefing, Annesley also admitted Gold Coast captain Kevin Proctor should have been sent to the sin-bin for his high shot on Joey Manu, for which he was only placed on report.
Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson said Proctor would have been sin-binned if Manu had stayed down for longer.
Annesley also admitted referees made an error in sending Brisbane forward Kobe Hetherington from the field in Saturday’s clash against the Raiders and said it should have been a sin bin.
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