NRL Issues of Contention Round 2

Another week and more talking points in the NRL.

The first might not be too popular with the Mango fans but unfortunately he is on the hitlist for points of contention.  Matt Bowen is a class player but his late knees into the back of Yow Yeh surely will have the judiciary having a closer look.  What I cannot understand is why it was not penalised on the ground.  I can assure you that if Billy Slater did the same thing it would have been instantly penalised and it been the talk of League all week.  Especially if he did it in an origin game.  No-one likes to see 8 point tries, but also no-one wants to see a player seriously hurt by a late hit that is not warranted and can be avoided. 

The second point of contention would be forward passes.  Besides the fact that most officials miss most and call too many that are not forward passes, it is which ones the always miss and the commentators take on forward passes.  Most forward passes are call in attack and are when the ball is being passed to a centre of winger en route to a try. Yet most that are missed are from a team in their own half and the pass is from the dummy half.  And then there is the player who always seems to throw a forward pass and this is where the commentators come into action.  It seems that no matter where Benji Marshall throws the ball it is "magical" in the eyes of Phil Gould, Ray Warren and the likes. I cannot recall a game where they have said his passes should be called back.  Every game you will see Marshall throw no look passes that are clearly forward and are never called.  Watch another player do it and listen to the commentators scream down the house if it is not called and leads to a try.

And this leads me on to the final point of contention that isn't quite NRL related but it is close enough due to the idiots on Channel Nine.  It is great to see the Queensland Cup get the recognition and have coverage on commercial television but if it is at the cost of the commentators on Nine then send it back to the ABC.  With the ABC you knew you were always going to get good coverage by men that knew the game, not a fool that likes to hear his own voice.  Why is it that the commercial stations are like political parties?  They continually serve up the same idiots and think that everyone wants to listen to them and the job they are doing is top rate.  And if going to radio commentators like Ray Haddley is the direction they are thinking the it could be even worse.