‘Not a gender thing’: NRL players on notice over ref attacks
NRL players and officials have been put on notice to address both their on-field interactions and post-game criticism of match officials with growing concerns about the capacity for their actions to “incite” poor behaviour among fans.
Football boss Graham Annesley delivered the stern dressing down in the wake of several incidents involving referee Kasey Badger in Saturday’s clash between the Bulldogs and West Tigers including veteran prop David Klemmer attempting to stand over the rookie whistleblower during a player scuffle.
Badger was heavily criticised for her performance, in just her third match in charge.
Klemmer was sin-binned for dissent and teammate Alex Seyfarth followed for headbutting as Badger looked to take control of the fiery contest.
But Annesley said the issue of referee attacks was not “gender specific” and that everyone involved in the game had to more readily “accept” mistakes would be made and were simply “part of the game”.
“Even when referees do make mistakes they don’t make them because of their gender,” he said on Monday.
“They make mistakes because they are human. We somehow have this expectation that NRL referees get everything right. They can’t get it all right to everyone’s satisfaction. There needs to be some degree of acceptance to that.
“I do address my remarks today to coaches, players, club officials … whether they are criticising the Commission, or the CEO, or a referee, or the bunker, we need to have a better level of tolerance in our game for what are human errors.”
A picture paints a thousand words.
Be better. There’s a process- follow it.
Disrespectful. Emotional dysregulation. Power imbalance. I could keep going…
Sending love to Kasey after this and all the foul comments I’ve read. @NRLpic.twitter.com/APdTLYDZjt— Michelle Taupau (@MichelleTaupau) May 5, 2024
Annesley also lined up players for trying to “test” rookie referees like Badger because their actions could have “consequences” they can’t control.
“It doesn’t only happen to female referees. Kasey Badger, she’s a rookie referee, and players will try and test rookie referee regardless of gender,” he said.
“They’ll see how far they can push them. The referee accept they will be tested but we have to know where that line is and not overstep.
“It can have consequences that aren’t even intended by the payer. It can incite the fans., we can see incidents which flow from there.
“There’s a level of responsibility on everyone in the game.”
The NRL will confirm on Tuesday if Badger gets to control another match in Round 10.
