Dog Act by A Bulldog

2012 for the NRL will never be forgotten and it is unfortunately for all the wrong reason. In a season ruined by video refs everyone was very worried that they would have the final say on who were the premiers for 2012. This in one way was luckily not the case but instead we are now dealing with an issue that is one of the  worst I have ever witnessed in sport. So instead of talking about the game lets highlight an incident that will go down as one of the worst the game has seen and should be dealt with accordingly.

Before I prattle on though take a look at the incident itself.

The Dog Act

This incident raises many issues.

1.  Why did the referees not ask for it to be reviewed when after all, this is what the judiciary will do. If the game is happy to stop everything for more than five minutes to review a try or a melee, why did they not take what could have been seen within 5 minutes was obvious to everyone else. Why are the referees so scared to send players off. A player can commit a high tackle or similar and get sent off after a review, so why change it now.

2.  How can a the Bulldogs as a club or any supporter of the club from this point forward want this player as part of their organisation?

3.  Why did the commentators gloss over this issue so easily yet make more complaints about strips that were rules as knock-ons.

For one I am glad that this player did not end up affecting the end result of the game. What I cannot understand is how they managed to finish the game. What needs to happen from here though must be a hard stance and carried out very quickly. A very long suspension at minimum is required, and personally I would like to see this player rubbed out of the game for good. No normal person in their right mind takes this action and the game needs to acknowledge that. If allowed to ever play the game again in the NRL then he and the NRL also have to be accept that every game, opposition players are allowed to say "watch out, make sure he doesn't bite you". If the NRL doesn't want this to happen then a life ban is the only option.

If the Bulldogs as a club want to retain any respect then it should act on this issue very quickly, accept any punishment the player receives without fighting it and then terminate the contract of James Graham. Rarely do I swear on twitter or facebook, let alone in my club but this is a rare instance that has caused that. I have commented on many issues through the season and admit to be very vocal about certain issues but on this occasion, if the NRL take a soft stance then it is going to lose a lot of fans and sponsors in the process as it will be highlighted as a grubs game.