How Cameron Munster and the Melbourne Storm exposed the most farcical rule in the NRL

COMMENT

The NRL's head of football Graham Annesley would have been thanking his lucky stars that the Melbourne Storm got the win over Brisbane on Thursday night after one of the most ridiculous rules in the game was exposed. The Storm prevailed 34-32 after they scored two late tries and the Broncos bombed a number of chances in the dying stages.

But controversy erupted in the 65th minute when the Storm were trailing 24-22 and appeared to be completely dudded out of a try. Deine Mariner caught a bomb from Cameron Munster and came down on his back in a painful landing.

Munster showed his smarts by pinching the ball from Mariner in a one-on-one steal before diving over the line for what he thought was a try. But referee Ashley Klein called a penalty to the Broncos after deeming that Munster's strip came after he'd completed a tackle on Mariner by putting his hands on the Brisbane winger.

Under NRL rules, a tackle is complete as soon as a player lying on the ground has a hand placed on them. The rule was brought in a number of years ago to prevent players being dragged over the sideline or into the in-goal while lying prone on the ground.

But Munster appeared to expose a loophole in the rule by taking the ball from Mariner without actually laying a hand on his opponent. The farcical ruling prevented the Storm from taking the lead, and would have caused huge controversy had Melbourne not won the game in the end.

"There was no hand on him," Andrew Johns said in commentary for Channel 9. "That should be play on, the tackle wasn't complete. He hits the ground and there's no hand on him."

Although had the try been awarded to Munster, the Bunker would have likely intervened because the actions of Jack Howarth during the contest for the ball appeared to break the rules. Howarth wasn't looking at the ball and ended up causing Mariner to fall awkwardly by getting in his way and clattering into his legs after he'd caught the ball. Replays also seemed to suggest that Howarth might have been off-side from the kick as well.

NRL rules spark controversy once again

Nevertheless, the incident exposed how farcical the rule is in regards to when a tackle is deemed complete. The fact Munster could be deemed to have tackled Mariner when he didn't actually touch him should be a big wake-up call to NRL officials.

The rule has caused much controversy in recent years, but it has never been found out as successfully as with the Munster incident. Why should players be protected when they opt to dive to the ground in what would have been called a voluntary tackle back in the day?

As well as the rule that teams get a seven-tackle set when the opposition knocks the ball on over the try line, this would have to be up there with the worst in the NRL. The seven-tackle set rule was brought in to deter teams from kicking the ball over the dead-ball line on purpose so they could set their defensive line for a 20m restart, rather than opening themselves up to fullbacks or wingers breaking through a staggered line while chasing.

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Why should teams be punished with an extra tackle to defend after going agonisingly close to scoring but knocking the ball on over the try line? It's clearly not the same. But this is the NRL we're talking about - a sport that doesn't seem to know its own rules let alone the fans.