sport, local-sport

The deciding State of Origin match in Sydney could either be abandoned, or brawling players allowed to remain on the field, following a conflict between the NRL's recent mandate to sin bin players for punching and a little-known amendment to the rules last year. NRL general manager of football operations Nathan McGuirk has confirmed that a clarification of the rules less than a year ago says a game must be abandoned if the number of players on one team falls below nine. The rule was reviewed to cater for mass injury to junior teams where the number of players can be less than 13. However, it has serious implications for Origin football, given the recent NRL rule mandating the sin-binning of players for 10 minutes for punching. In the July 17 Origin decider, two brawls could occur within five minutes, with say three players sin-binned from one team for the first altercation and two of their teammates dispatched to the dressing room from the second fight. This would mean only eight players left from one team, raising the possibility of the game being abandoned. Should this happen in rugby league's showpiece event, it would generate headlines throughout the world, creating international embarrassment. Two brawls, separated by only five minutes, are always a possibility given the prevailing high tempers and desire to take retribution against those unpunished from the earlier fight. McGuirk says the abandonment rule relates only to players taken permanently from the field. ''It does not apply to temporarily suspended players, such as those sin-binned, or in the blood bin,'' he said. ''For a State of Origin or NRL match to be abandoned, five players from one team would have to be permanently sent from the field.'' So, in the scenario where three players from one team were sin-binned and five minutes later another two follow them to the sheds, the game would continue with eight on the field until the 10minutes punishment of the original trio elapsed. A five-minute period in the code's highest-rating product where one team had eight players would, nevertheless, attract global attention. McGuirk said referees were ''100 per cent aware of the [abandonment] rule'' and would exercise discretion. He said the conflict between the rule and the requirement to sin-bin fighting players meant some guilty ones could be unpunished during the match. ''If we get to a situation where a large brawl takes place, you'd probably find the referees would identify the main perpetrators and they might send four or five to the sin bin and the remainder on the periphery would be captured by the match-review committee,'' he said. ''All the players, including those sin-binned and those the referee did not see, would be subject to the judiciary process.'' Asked about a subsequent brawl five minutes later, he said, ''That is an issue referees would have to deal with on the day. [Referees boss] Daniel Anderson has gone through a number of scenarios with the referees and that one [a second brawl] is a scenario which could occur.'' The second Origin match in Brisbane demonstrated that in the flurry of punches thrown in a brawl, the less guilty can be punished. Four players were sin-binned, yet two, NSW's Greg Bird and Queensland's Brent Tate, did not throw a punch. The NRL has added to the pressure on referees in its reaction to three punches thrown by one player, NSW captain, Paul Gallen, in the first Origin match in Sydney on June 5. Referees are highly cognisant of their obligation to punish any player who throws a punch, yet aware of the abandonment rule. The danger exists of a referee leaving a player on the field who has committed a serious, even violent breach, fearing his banishment from a second brawl could result in the game becoming an embarrassment or an abandonment. Referees have called games off before, such as a NSW versus Great Britain match at the SCG when referee Aub Oxford ended the match because of brawling. There have also been fights in under-20s matches with multiple sin-binnings. In a 2010 match between North Queensland and Manly, eight players were charged and suspended for a total of 20 weeks. Referees in these matches did not have the added responsibility of sin-binning any player who threw a punch.