NRL delivers verdict on State of Origin first half brawl

NRL’s Head of Elite Football Graham Annesley has revealed that the league will not take any further action against the players involved in the brawl that broke out in first half of last week’s State of Origin Game III match in Brisbane.  

Annesley clears air after Game III 

Speaking in his weekly football briefing NRL football boss Graham Annesley shared his thoughts on what took place in NSW’s State of Origin Game III week. As far as the former Minister for Sport and Recreation is concerned, there is no need for any further punishment.  
 
He also walked through some of the more controversial refereeing decisions from the all-time great match. This included walking through some of the unwritten rules referees always follow.  

State of Origin Game III under the microscope 

After almost 30 minutes of tense, scoreless action in State of Origin Game III, Blues’ Jarome Luai and the Maroons’ Daly Cherry-Evans went head-to-head following a bit of loose play from Bradman Best. This clash led to an all-out brawl between the two bitter rivals.  
 
Luai and Cherry-Evans were at the heart of it, but Queensland’s Jeremiah Nandi and NSW’s Cam Murray were the biggest offenders according to referee Ashley Klein.  
 
Nandi and Murray spent 10 minutes in the sin bin, while Blues’ 19th man Haumole Olakau’atu was evicted from the match.  
 
Unusually, Murray was on the bench when he was sent to the sin bin. This meant that Blues’ Mitchell Barnett was forced off the field in his place. Many NSW fans disagreed with the decision to take a player off the pitch for Murray’s action in the brawl. 
 
Annesley explained that, while there is no rule stating this, it is custom to punish the team for the offences of a bench player.  
 
“If he had been sent off from the bench, then they would be required to play with 12 players for the remainder of the game,” Annesley explained.  
 
“I don’t think it would be acceptable or fair for a team to just simply reduce the number of players they have available for rotation and not suffer any consequence in terms of the numbers of players they have playing during the game.” 
 
As for whether Murray should have been sent off, Annesley deferred to the referee’s decision at the time.  
 
“That sort of decision is purely at the discretion of the referee. They have to take into consideration the circumstances that unfolded in front of them and they have to make a decision,” he said.  
 
Annesley was overall sympathetic to the referees, saying that the brawl was “obviously a very confusing period because there were a lot of players involved at different levels, and ultimately he has to make a decision.” 

Annesley’s next weekly briefing will be next week after NRL Round 21. You can get ready for all the action here at BettingTop10. We also have reviews of all the top NRL betting sites.