‘Shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone’: ARLC to consider changes to the sin bin rule after backlash from prominent coaches

The Australian Rugby League Commission will discuss possible tweaks to the sin bin rule at the end of the year, but NRL football boss Graham Annesley remains adamant there won’t be any backing down referees issuing on-field punishments amid criticism from some of the best coaches of all time.

Wayne Bennett voiced his frustrations over the sin bin rule in a lengthy chat with Fox Sports last week, with Roosters coach Trent Robinson agreeing after Sunday’s win that it needs to be looked at to protect the integrity of the game and to eliminate inconsistencies between the referees, the bunker and the match review committee.

Robinson raised his voice after a question about Wests Tigers skipper Api Koroisau who spent 10 minutes off the field for a lifting tackle on Lindsay Collins but wasn’t charged by the MRC, which moved frustrated Tigers coach Benji Marshall to label it a “lottery”.

In total, 71 players have been sin-binned across 17 rounds this season and while Annesley conceded that the Koroisau incident didn’t “reach the mark for a sin bin”, he said referees would remain extra vigilant.

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“I have no problem with this being penalised and placed on report, but I don’t think it reaches the mark for a sin bin offence, and clearly the match review committee didn’t feel it reached that level for a charge,” Annesley said on Monday.

The NRL cracked down on foul play during Magic Round in 2021 where pretty much any head contact resulted in a sin bin or send off, and while that has since been loosened, the game isn’t going to go soft on deterrents as it tries to protect players from high shots that lead to concussion.

“It’s a really difficult question to have a perfect answer to,” Annesley said.

“Those decisions were made by the Commission about the rules of the game, and what can and can’t happen in relation to foul play.

“The Commission has taken a very strong stance against any kind of foul play over recent years, and that will continue. There won’t be any backing away from that.

“In relation to whether players should be sin binned for these types of offences or not, or dealt with post-match by the MRC, that’s another matter for the Commission to consider.

“But I don’t think that there’s going to be any backwards step from the Commission in relation to the approach they take to foul play.

“It’s a complex question to answer, and there’ll be a variety of different views on it, but the rules are what they are, everyone has to work within those rules and they shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone because they know what they are.”

Graham Annesley says the ARLC will consider making changes to the sin bin rule. NRL Imagery Credit: Supplied

There have been calls for the reintroduction of a five-minute sin bin or a power play similar to the one in the NHL where an offending player can return if the opposition scores to prevent one side from having too much of an advantage for too long.

It’s why the Commission will look into possible changes to the rule, although there are already possible problems.

“Changes to the sin bin have been considered over the past few years,” Annesley said.

“There has been talk about whether a five-minute sin bin should be introduced or not, but the Commission has decided not to do that, and there are a variety of reasons for it, not the least of which is some level of consistency.

“We used to have five-minute and 10-minute sin bins, but the reason it was eliminated was because of accusations of inconsistencies.

“There would have to be very strict parameters around the difference between the two so we didn’t go down that path again.”