Seperating Representative Infringements

New Zealand and Broncos prop Adam Blair will miss the NRL Telstra Premiership clash with the Sea Eagles after taking an early guilty plea for a dangerous contact charge in the Test against the Kangaroos. Blair was charged with dangerous contact over a tackle on Kangaroos forward and Broncos teammate Sam Thaiday in the 62nd minute, and will serve a one-game ban with an early guilty plea.

Contrary conduct during a regular season round can rub a player out of Representative contention and as we have seen, the opposite. I imagine both Brisbane and Sam Thaiday would much prefer to have the charges dropped, allowing Blair to line up beside his victim this weekend.

It raises the question should Representative infringements be served separately?

Representative Rugby League should incorporate a separate demerit system, where infringements are served in Representative fixtures and not back in the NRL, and vice versa. The current system only disadvantages clubs who have representative players. We have seen the consequences in years past where clubs have pulled players out of City Country duty, taking away the risk of injury and suspension.

I believe Representative infringements should receive larger fines, and slightly reduced points. These are the game’s elite players, they can afford a few extra dollars for a Representative infringement. This system would also reduce the bias that becomes apparent during the Origin period, so many times we have seen the games elite seemingly receive and unexplainable lower grading for an infringement in the regular competition allowing them to line up for their respective State.  I firmly believe the rules do change when it comes to Origin (and International Rugby League) and the separate system would only see constant Rep offenders suspended from playing Rep footy.

A separate system would ensure the games best are always selected for Representative duties, and those that perhaps get caught in the heat of the moment during Representative fixtures do not carry the penalty back to their club team. After all it is Representative footy and the stakes and the passion are much higher.

 

 

 

 

Culling Kangaroos for Joeys

Gus Gould made clear his opinion on the Australian side during the call on Friday night. There is no disputing the Australian side did not present their crisp, flawless selves of years past. Gus called for the retirement of “ageing incumbents” to allow for an injection of youth amongst the Green and Gold, ensuring Australia are contenders at the next World Cup. After watching the game it is pretty hard to dispute what the man is saying.

Still it would be hard to drop these “aging players”, when they still carry their club teams to victory week in and week out. Paul Gallen is a dominant force for the Sharks and also received Man of the Match in Friday night’s Test. I do not think the old Roos are playing bad but perhaps their stamina is not there in the late stages of Representative Competitions.

Below is my Australian side, made up of players 26 and under.

POSITION	INCUMBENT	AGE	REPLACEMENT	AGE
1	Darius Boyd	28	James Tedesco	23
2	Semi Radrada	23	Semi Radradra	23
3	Greg Inglis	29	Blake Ferguson	26
4	Josh Dugan	25	James Roberts	23
5	Blake Ferguson	26	Kyle Feldt	24
6	Jonathon Thurston	33	Michael Morgan	24
7	Cooper Cronk	32	Anthony Milford	21
8	Matt Scott	30	Aaron Woods	25
9	Cameron Smith ©	32	Jake Friend ©	26
10	Paul Gallen	34	Dylan Napa	23
11	Josh Papalii	23	Josh Papalii	23
12	Matt Gillet	27	Boyd Cordener	23
13	Corey Parker	34	Jake Trbojevic	22
14	Josh McGuire	26	Josh McGuire	26
15	Michael Morgan	24	Corey Norman	25
16	James Tamou	27	Andrew Fifita	26
17	Sam Thaiday	30	Ethan Lowe	25
18	Aiden Guerra	28	Bryce Cartwright	21
	AVERAGE AGE	28.39	AVERAGE AGE	23.83

Honourable Mention:

Andrew McCullough 26 (Backup Hooker), Corey Oates 21 (Backup Winger), Josh Dugan 25 (Backup Fullback)

Josh Dugan is hard to leave out of the side, but he has to be picked at Fullback. It’s neck and neck, with Tedesco getting the nod for his ball playing out the back.

Gus, what do you think?