The fight to save the playmakers

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WE are just two rounds into the new NRL season and already one of the great ironies for 2015 has been exposed.

Referees this year have been listed as a protected species, with coaches no longer allowed to criticise them through fear of causing hurt feelings.

Meanwhile, rugby league's most prized assets, playmakers like Johnathan Thurston and Benji Marshall, are adamant they are now victims of ongoing physical and illegal abuse.

And it seems nothing is being done to help them.

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Is it time to introduce the sin bin for foul play?

As one leading coach said to me this week: "This would stop overnight if the NRL brought in a sin bin (for foul play). They would be less likely to do something illegal if they knew it was going to leave their team a man down," the coach said.

Can they make a rule change with the season already started?

"Of course they can," he added. "I'm all about the game being played hard, as long as it is within the rules."

Unfortunately, this is where the argument on this issue splinters, depending on who you listen to.

Some coaches and former players have said this week this sort of treatment/punishment has been dished out for more than 100 years — and if you brought in a rule change now, it would potentially wipe out enforcers like Beau Scott.

Plus, they say, there are currently rules to stop blatant late hits, and all the referees need to do is enforce it consistently.

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But when a bloke like Thurston comes out and says it is now "open slather' on playmakers, it would be wise for the NRL to listen. The problem with ignoring alarm bells in our game is when you do it invariably ends in disaster.

And according to Thurston and Marshall, after just two weeks of the new season, something has to give. Or someone will get seriously hurt.

As well as being arguably the most skilful player in the game, Thurston is also as tough as they come. The fact he has played 30 consecutive Origins for Queensland highlights that, and there isn't a playmaker in the game who takes the ball to the line as often as this bloke.

It is what helps make him so great, but also such a target.

So when Thurston said he feared he could have suffered a neck injury after being up-ended in a dangerous tackle by Scott and Chris Houston, you have to take him on his word.

Incredibly, the tackle didn't result in a suspension for either player because one of Thurston's legs remained on the ground.

As Thurston rightly pointed out: Would the tackle have rated higher than a 90 point demerit for Scott if Thurston had broke his neck?

Should injury determine punishment, like it did with Jordan McLean last year for his part on the tackle on Alex McKinnon?

Or should the NRL stay a step ahead of potential danger, like Thurston and Marshall are warning now?

That lifting tackle wasn't the only incident that had the Cowboys blowing up.

The one where Scott smashed Thurston late, Andrew Johns described as a "cheap shot", because Thurston had absolutely no defence.

A week earlier Marshall said he was lucky not to break his leg after being cleaned up by a "missile" tackle from Felise Kaufusi that only resulted in a one-game ban. But what if Marshall had broken his leg in that tackle and Kaufusi was allowed to play on awaiting the match review verdict?

Thurston is up-ended by Newcastle's Chris Houston and Beau Scott. Source: Supplied

NRL benches are stacked with interchange forwards, while clubs rarely carry a replacement half, and most can only afford one star playmaker on their roster.

Rugby league is already a tough enough sport without it being made more dangerous.

You think about the injuries suffered so far this year.

John Sutton broke his jaw after an accidental head clash with Dylan Napa, and while Sutton played on for 33 minutes, he will now be sidelined for a month.

In the same game Adam Reynolds left the field in a daze only to return to play a leading role in the winning try.

Down in Canberra Jack Wighton suffered a broken bone above his eye in the opening minutes against the Warriors after a head collision with a teammate.

It's worth pointing out when that occurred, Wighton didn't stop for medical treatment.

Within minutes he was across the field saving a try with a desperate tackle on Manu Vatuvei.

You talk about courage.

Already several players have been ruled out with season-ending injuries.

Beau Champion did his knee last week, Clint Gutherson was a first-round casualty. Chris Sandow and Tepai Moeroa played against the Bulldogs last week with painkillers.

Does the game need to be tougher?

With respect to the "this has been going on for 100 years" theory, previously a playmaker always had an enforcer on hand just in case he needed protection.

Now we have the no-punch rule.

The Cowboys forwards have vowed it won't happen again but what can they really do without the NRL's help?

Johnathan Thurston has called on the NRL to protect players form serious injury. Source: News Corp Australia

On Scott's late tackle on Thurston, NRL head of football Todd Greenberg drew his line in the sand when he said: "Our rules are very clear on making sure that the defenders have to use a shoulder and we have policed that heavily.

"I have reminded (NRL referees' boss) Tony Archer about the need to protect that and to make sure that they make decisions in the game, but equally someone of Johnathan Thurston's ability always plays at the line so there is going to be a balance."

But is the balance right, or is it time to bring in the sin bin for foul play?

Playmakers are the jewels of our game.

We can no longer talk about refs, but we should be talking more about this.

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ONE FOR TOOVES

GEOFF Toovey has copped plenty of cheap shots himself over recent months.

But if coaching in the NRL is about getting results, then these stats show exactly why the Manly coach has the runs on the board to keep his job.

Since taking over from Des Hasler in 2012, Toovey boasts the fourth-best winning percentage of any coach.

From 83 games, he has 51 wins and 31 losses and one draw, for a winning strike rate of 61.4%.

Apart from Jason Taylor and Rick Stone who top Fox Sports Stats after being undefeated in two games so far, Trent Robinson boasts the best average (69.6%) ahead of Michael Maguire (68.3%), Craig Bellamy (63.7%), Toovey and Hasler (61%).

In his three years Toovey has guided Manly to one grand final and two finals campaigns.

Last year they were knocked out by the Dogs after a controversial golden point loss.

Still, it's not a bad record in anyone's books going into round three's rematch with Canterbury.

Cowboys coach Paul Green came out fighting after the tackle on Johnathan Thurston. Source: Getty Images

THEY SAID IT

"They're supposed to be making the game safe. I felt that he was certainly targeted by the opposition. Years ago, that sort of thing happened, your teammates would deal with it ... now they clearly want to go in a direction where that doesn't happen anymore. If that's the way they want the game to go then someone needs to protect players ... his eye's just about closed and he's a guy who wears head gear as well." Paul Green defends Johnathan Thurston.

"I was a bit surprised at how strongly the Cowboys came out after the game to be honest and the publicity it attracted but I'm pleased it wasn't influential. It gives you a lot more confidence in the system." Newcastle director of football Michael Hagan responds.

"I'm all for pressure being put on halves, you can't let them run

around in dinner suits, but they've just opened up a can of worms now. Every back-rower now has got a licence to do it." Queensland legend Trevor Gillmeister weighs into the debate.

"They are definitely targeting kickers and this year you can see the force being used has gone up a notch as well." Former NRL match review chairman Greg McCallum.

"The ref blew the whistle, so I stopped and someone has picked my leg up ... flipped me and all my weight was going over. I was lucky. If I had have broken my neck, would he have only got 90 [demerit] points?

"We've had obviously a very dark day with Alex McKinnon — the worst thing that can happen in our game. I don't want to see any player be put in that position again." Johnathan Thurston's description of the tackle.

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