The model used in the NRL with respect to head knocks seems to work OK, at least in terms of play acting. Its certainly not been abused to get free interchanges as far as I can tell. Most players don't want to go off the field, but if a head knock is seen, the decision isn't theirs. Its not a VR decision but a doctor who reviews impacts. We've seen players taken off some time after the initial event on the advice of the medics.

Where the NRL is seeing some play acting is in 'crusher' tackles. Players are definitely staying down to get those reviewed.

I'd say the solution to the latter is that if the referee didn't see it, play on. No review of foul play itself to be done during the game. If a player stays down they know the main effect will be to give the defence a rest. Stop the VR review and there is zero incentive to stay down.

The difference seems to be that for head knocks the tackled player has to go off, but for crushers they are looking to get a penalty or more.

I think the recent type of play acting is a natural progression from players getting away with far too much in relation to challenging referees. The game has gone soft whether we like to admit it or not, and that includes the refs failing to clamp down on players getting in their face and challenging every other decision. St Helens have been the main culprits, groups of players prancing around the referee and the likes of Lomax, Welsby, Walmsley and Makinson gesticulating and bawling at refs every single game. We see the every game occurrence of players doing the imaginary square in the air when trying to get the ref to go to the screen for anything at all that could rule out a potential try. That in my book should be an immediate 10 mins, similar to a footballer waving a pretend card at the ref getting a yellow. It would seem the only player that that got any attention from refs was Harry Newman. It would appear the Lancashire Mafia (the refs) had been having a little chat together and singled him out whilst letting all the other gob####es carry on as normal. Johnny Lomax was even allowed to give verbal accounts of incidents that didn’t actually occur to refs in order to invoke sanctions. What we are seeing now is the game deteriorating further and further under an absolutely useless governing body that is making the game a bigger laughing stock than football. We used to laugh at football and now we have 20 stone giants collapsing under the finger of a small scrum half as he tries to play the ball.

lads can you encourage bentley or newman to take a dive early if not youre gonna have miski, dupree or marshall take the dive for the leg up

wigan arent gonna play fair

aw didums, somebody still crying about last week

you had 2 players quite rightly sin binned, and all your coach and some fans have done is bleat about it. Wigan have been most penalised & most bans this season, so you cant complain about bias towards Wigan

perhaps try looking a bit closer to home and your angel no 7 who has a history of diving and putting his fingers into other players mouth's, and then crying he bit me. Where was your coach crying then, he wasnt calling Lewis out for being a cheat, so very double standards

that 'cheating' number 7 who got hit 4 seconds late off a kick by tom forber and didnt stay down in which would of been a certain yellow with abit of theater

really are deluded