Phil Gould has launched another tirade on the NRL refs over the decision to send four players to the sin bin in the Roosters’ spiteful win over the Dolphins.
Roosters duo Spencer Leniu and Naufahu Whyte, along with the Dolphins pair Aublix Tawha and Francis Molo, were charged with contrary conduct for their part in a melee that erupted in the ninth minute.
Leniu also received a second contrary conduct charge for his role in the fracas.
Gould was furious on 100% Footy on Monday night with referee Gerard Sutton’s decision to banish all four players to the bin for the incident.
Sutton was heard saying to the Bunker that he wanted “two and two” from the scuffle, suggesting to Gould that he did not want to disadvantage either side.
He said Leniu was the main instigator should have been the only player marched.
“It’s painful, it really is painful that our game gets represented like that. We hype these games up and we promote the rivalry,” he said.
“We want our players to be gladiators, we celebrate their toughness, their skill, we celebrate everything. A little bit of argy-bargy in the opening stages of a finals-prospect game and all of a sudden we’ve got to send four blokes to the sin bin.
“Not a punch was thrown, not a person was hurt.
“What message are we trying to say? That we want you to be angels on the field?
“We want to hype this up as gladiatorial but we want you to be angels on the field and not have a little bit of rivalry.
“There was no reason to send anyone to the sin bin. If you wanted to send someone to the sin bin, send Spencer who probably started it off with a bit of agitation. The other three were just victims in the whole scenario.
Naufahu Whyte and Aublix Tawha tangle. (Photo by Regi Varghese/Getty Images)
“To stand there and say I want two and two, I’m gonna make a statement and we’re gonna have 11 players on 11, what does that do for the game? I don’t think it does anything for the game and I don’t think anyone supports it.”
Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf was dumbfounded by his two players being marched.
“I don’t understand the sin-binning,” Woolf said.
“The opposition score, we are standing in the dead-ball area and two guys come over pushing and shoving and shaping up. I don’t know what our blokes are supposed to do.
“Do we have to allow ourselves to get punched to not get sin-binned? But that’s not why we lost the game.”
Roosters coach Trent Robinson said it was “a lot of hot air”.
“It was push and shove but … four off was a lot,” he said.
“One from each side would have been enough because nothing really happened.”
Sandon Smith kicks. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Smith on the way out at Roosters
Young playmaker Sandon Smith looks set to be heading out of the Roosters following the club’s acquisition of Manly veteran Daly Cherry-Evans.
Smith has been told by the club that he is free to explore his options elsewhere by the Roosters after recently losing his starting spot to Chad Townsend for a match and then rookie Hugo Savala.
According to a report on 100% Footy, Canberra have held discussions with Smith to be a replacement for Manly-bound half Jamal Fogarty.
The Raiders have young guns Ethan Strange and Ethan Sanders on the books for next year and Smith, who is contracted until the end of next year at the Roosters, would be a handy third option for coach Ricky Stuart.
Savala has been a revelation for the Tricolours and the club wants him to be the back-up option for Sam Walker and DCE, who is set to join Trent Robinson’s squad on a two-year deal.
“I spend a fair bit of time with him at the moment and he’s a really exciting footballer to play with, his kicking game’s unbelievable,” Walker said.
“He’s got great composure as well for someone so early into his career, and I’m really looking forward to building my combinations with him … he allows me to play my natural game.
“I feel like my performance each week is sort of building and getting better and better and slowly starting to get to the footy that I want to be able to play.
“It’s an exciting group we have got at the moment and we’re building at the right time.”
The Roosters host Canterbury on Friday night in a match they must win to keep their top-eight hopes alive.
with AAP
The Roarhttps://https://ift.tt/LZB6ES9 News: Gus slams refs over ‘argy-bargy’ sin bin overreaction, rising star free to leave Roosters over DCE arrival
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