Recent suspensions highlight murky representative concession rules for NRL

NRL Head of Football Graham Annesley cleared up during his weekly briefing to the media yesterday the confusion surrounding why players like Angus Crichton, Victor Radley and Josh Papalii can use representative football as a concession towards their suspensions and others can't.

Speaking via NRL.com, Annesley said that once the players are suspended they, along with their clubs, can make an application to NRL judiciary chair Geoff Bellew with supporting documentation from their states (in the case of State of Origin) that contends they would have been selected for the representative side.

Bellew then weighs up the information provided and makes a determination, which can also mean the request can be denied.

In the instance of Crichton and Papalii, both players were given concessions by the judiciary to use Origin I as a game on their record. This cleared them both to begin playing for their club teams as of this past Saturday.

In Radley's case, he was awarded the same concession for Origin I. However, because his suspension will carry over until after Origin II, he also applied for that to count and was reportedly denied.

SEN 1170 Breakfast host Andrew Voss recently pondered this question and was baffled at the prospect of Radley, a zero-time Origin representative, being awarded concession towards his suspension.

“It’s almost like this has been done via stealth, no one was to know, no one was to realise,” Voss said.

While pundits like Andrew Voss, who have been around the game for eons, are scratching their heads at the standards of this rule, it should breathe a little bit of confidence into the public that Bellew denied Radley for Origin II.

This denial provides some clarity around the measurement of the rule, showing that in most instances the judiciary will only allow concession for one match.

Roosters fans should expect to see Radley available for club selection in Week 17, and for Blues selection in Origin III.