Quote:
Magic Superbeetle "Quote: Magic Superbeetle "Imagine if none of that happened though & he was just picking up a player he knew was play acting for the penalty.'"
Who is he to decide who is play acting? What if Ben Flower decided Lance Hohaia was play acting after the first punch?
Any defence of a player having any interaction on the floor is nonsense. We cant scream player welfare and then say "oh but it might be okay if the player wasnt injured" - go to the ref and say theres nothing wrong with him - get your own teams doctor on and involved to prove theres nothing wrong, don't get involved yourself.'"
Not the best example to use.
I think had it been a hard collision and possible head, neck or spinal issue then fine I can understand the repercussions of trying to get a player up but I think Gale will have known how much contact there was. I think Gale was wrong to try and lift Lomax up but the argument that he could have been seriously injured is a mute one and the fact once Gale was carded Lomax then stopped hobbling almost immediately and saw out the game on the field.
Think the RFL actually face a dilemma here due to the incidents and inconsistencies from the officials in that game and the level of gamesmanship particularly from Welsby who clearly played for a penalty by doing what he did by putting himself to the ground head first to con the ref. He isn't a daft lad I'm sure and he'd be aware if an opposing player was adjudged to have caused it in the tackle they'd have been carded. Again as soon as Kendall blew his whistle his holding of his neck immediately stopped and he jumped straight up. If the RFL want to stamp out foul play then it has to be all foul play both physical and gamesmanship because currently the path they are on by clamping down to severely just invites more housery play in terms of conning refs like Welsby did which will eventually kill the game.
For me Gale should get a 3 game ban and severe warning for his future conduct but also the incident involving Welsby should result in a 1 game ban for unsporting conduct as a message to say this type of action by players will not be tolerated in the game.
But knowing the RFL they will just consistently be inconsistent and to the continued detriment to the game.
