Angus Crichton has reportedly been told he is allowed to serve his Rugby League World Cup suspension during the NRL pre-season in what is the latest of a string of decisions that have had fans scratching their heads.
Somewhere in amongst the madness, you could be almost certain that Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys is justifying it by suggesting that he is "looking after the fans", but at what point does that actually become a widely supported thing?
The last 12 months have seen the NRL go from one baffling judiciary decision to the next.
And that's not even focusing on the actual consistency of judiciary gradings on field. Some of the decisions throughout the 2022 season were beyond baffling, but that's another story for another day.
No, what is currently in the headlights is the fact that some players will be forced to serve their suspensions in NRL games, and some will be able to serve them during the pre-season.
Some players were allowed to serve their NRL suspensions during World Cup warm-up games, as if they carry the same weight, while others were forced to decide between paying a fine or spending the first month of the season off the field because they weren't good enough to be picked in Australia's Rugby League World Cup squad.
And in that lies the issue - consistency around judiciary decisions and when suspensions can be served is amateurish at best, but for the biggest rugby league competition on the planet which seems to have no trouble putting fans offside time and time again, it's beyond ridiculous.
Take the following scenarios:
- Jordan Rapana is suspended for an off-field discretion at the start of 2022. He is not allowed to use the NRL All Stars game to count towards his suspension, however, Latrell Mitchell is allowed to use the representative fixture to wipe a game off his suspension for a horror tackle on Joseph Manu at the back end of the 2021 season.
- Taylan May is suspended for two weeks due to an off-field discretion. He is allowed to play the NRL finals and the Rugby League World Cup, serving his suspension at the start of next season. It's justified under the ideal of "benefiting the fans."
- Ryan Matterson is suspended for three games, but can opt to pay a $4000 fine as it was an extra offence during the finals series. He elects to take the ban.
- Multiple players are suspended at the back end of the NRL season. Most can elect to serve suspensions during the Rugby League World Cup warm-up games, and tournament games if they extended past those. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Lindsay Collins both find themselves among the players serving NRL suspensions at the tournament.
- Taane Milne is suspended for a horrific tackle during the South Sydney Rabbitohs' preliminary final loss to the Penrith Panthers. Despite missing Fiji's Rugby League World Cup squad on account of the suspension (and likely not making it anyway), he is allowed to count the Rugby League World Cup to his suspension.
- Angus Crichton is suspended during the Rugby League World Cup final. He is allowed to serve his suspension during the NRL trial games at the start of the 2023 season, despite this option not being available to players who received bans during the NRL season. The NRL explain that this is because "different rules apply" to punishments handed down by the IRL.
At the crux of the issue here is consistency - it's a word the NRL seem to struggle with, whether that be on-field with referees and rules, off-field or otherwise.
The level of penalties often haven't made a great deal of sense, with Nelson Asofa-Solomona coming off as protected species with Grade 1 charge after Grade 1 charge enabling him to receive fines right throughout the course of the NRL season.
While other players - take Jason Taumalolo's tackle during North Queensland's loss in the preliminary finals - seem to be unfairly upgraded, players like Asofa-Solomona and Waerea-Hargreaves have been let off time and time again.
But I digress - that isn't what this piece is about.
Crichton being able to serve his suspension during a trial match for - let's be honest, a very poor on-field indiscretion - makes little to no sense when players who copped NRL suspensions would play trials, then sit out for the weeks required.
We saw it with multiple players heading into the 2022 season, and will see it again with Matterson heading into 2023.
A 'poor look' only just touches the tip of the iceberg on trying to describe the lack of consistency in these decisions, but the NRL have backed themselves into a corner with their own rules.
The simple changes that must be made are for players to serve their suspensions in the competitions they occur.
That doesn't always make sense - for example, a player copping a six-week suspension in a State of Origin game wouldn't be right. There would be some teething issues to work out, but players serving NRL suspensions in the World Cup and vice versa isn't right, particularly when those games are trials or warm-ups.
It essentially gives players a free pass at the back end of a season if international games are being played, or during those international games knowing that a two-game suspension can be served during the NRL trial period.
Players will care less than a little bit about sitting out warm-up or trial games if it's going to give them an edge in finals fixtures or during other internationals.
That said, the onus is on Peter V'Landys, the Australian Rugby League Commission and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo to get this right in a hurry.
They have shown they are willing to tinker with the rules, and for what it's worth, most changes have been solid. The changes to the judiciary have worked to their desired effect most of the time as well, putting in an escalating level of punishment to players for multiple (even minor) offences committed throughout a season.
It may need more tweaking, but right now, the single biggest issue staring the NRL in the face is ensuring that the timing of serving suspensions is correct.
Simply put, it can not be allowed to stay as it is.
