NRL news 2023 | Phil Gould slams NRL’s ‘chronic, toxic’ issue following Jordan Rapana, Martin Taupau collision
Phil Gould has slammed the NRL’s “toxic” trend of awarding penalties based on the outcome, rather than the action itself.
As fallout from Saturday’s controversial finish to the Broncos-Raiders clash continues, Paul Gallen pointed out that after Jordan Rapana dropped the ball following the Martin Taupau hit, Kurt Capewell picked up the ball and scored.
Gallen said the try should have stood.
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“Why shouldn’t it have been a try … [Rapana] made an error – he dropped the ball,” he said on Nine’s 100% Footy
“[Capewell] picked it up and scored, I thought ‘they’re going to win this.”
Gould agreed.
“This has become chronic in our game, it’s actually become toxic in our game, that every time someone gets hurt, someone’s got to get blamed and punished for it,” he said.
“This is professional football, it’s going to happen, we all understand it. There will be collisions and there will be moments in the game where people will get hurt. Get over it.
“We encourage so much that’s wrong for our game, that shades our game in a bad light.
“This game was about building character and about strong men playing the game. We want this game now to be played by gentlemen and gentle men.
“And that’s not rugby league.”
In penalising Taupau, referee Grant Atkins said the Broncos enforcer “put his knees in a careless position, and it was a careless action”.
After the game, Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said he felt sorry for Taupau, before revealing he had come into the Raiders shed looking for Rapana to apologise.
“[Taupau] came looking for Jordy and spoke to his parents, which is really nice of him,” he said.
“It was an unfortunate collision. These accidents happen in these games.”
On Nine’s Sunday Footy Show, Billy Slater said while he agreed Taupau didn’t mean to hit Rapana in the head, the penalty was fair.
“At the end of the day you’ve got a duty of care,” he said.
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“When you go down like that on a guy catching the ball, you have an opportunity to steady and make the tackle in a safe manner.”
It was a view that left Gould baffled.
“That’s the most overused and misunderstood phrase, ‘duty of care’,” he said on 100% Footy.
“He doesn’t have a duty of care there, not to hit him in the head. He had no intention of hitting him in the head.
“Jordan Rapana hit his head on [Taupau’s] knee. That’s not Taupau’s fault.
“There is a huge difference in it. A huge difference.”
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