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18 sin bins: NRL's bunker confession amid high tackle crisis
Sam Kosack • April 28th, 2025 4:16 pm
- Andrew Abdo admits to bunker overuse
- Referee boss Graham Annesley urged to bring back weekly briefings
- Sympathy for the referees amidst heavy bunker interference
The NRL has conceded the bunker was overused with its policing of high tackles during Round 8.
A total of 18 players were sent to the sin bin over the course of the week, with the bunker commonly weighing in a set later to adjudicate high tackle incidents.
It has led the NRL to acknowledge the bunker's use would be pulled back heading into Round 9's Magic Round.
SEN’s Jimmy Smith has called for NRL referee boss Graham Annesley to explain the reason behind this week’s crackdown to help fans, players, and coaches understand how the rules are being policed.
“Graham (Annesley), talk today!” Smith said on SEN 1170 Afternoons.
“At the start of the year they said no, no more with the self-flagellation.
“You haven’t done it for the first seven rounds. I’m in agreement… I don’t think you gained any benefit out of highlighting all the errors that came from the officials over the course of a weekend but today, Graham, talk.
“We need you to talk, we need you to fill us with confidence, we need you to let us know what you are doing so we don’t have a repeat at Magic Round.
“We had an overcorrection, just pull it back a little bit, I don’t think it’s that hard.
“I think there are literally levers you can pull to make sure you get better outcomes and make things a whole lot more palatable for fans… and like all of the games over the weekend, let the players decide the outcome.
“But if we keep having a situation that we did over the weekend, then there’s going to be further frustration.”
Smith thinks the bunker needs to have their role reduced so referees can better get a feel for the game, allowing for more free-flowing play.
“Reduce the bunker interference, allow the bunker to do what it was supposed to do that was to adjudicate on those decisions especially in try scoring situations and remove the howler.
“The referees today, I feel so sorry for them because they’re out there with literally thousands of decisions to make every match and then they’re getting this constant talking in their head about what they should and shouldn’t be doing.
“No wonder there’s no flow in the game; there’s no flow in their brain! Can you think about when you best concentrate… there’s no stimuli coming in... You’re just allowed to watch and concentrate… I really feel for them.
NRL SPEAK OUT
The role of the bunker drew criticisms from fans, players, and coaches, leading to NRL CEO Andrew Abdo admitting the bunker intervening in instances it likely shouldn’t have, and revealing it would pull back on the frequency of its use in ruling on high tackles.
“There’s been no policy change, but obviously the implementation of the policy is where the issue is and the bunker intervening,” Abdo told The Daily Telegraph.
“It’s meant for serious acts of foul play, and I think that there have been instances where it hasn’t met that threshold.
“It’s really there for howlers. It’s really there for an exceptional serious act of foul play. And we’ll work on that this week and make sure that everyone is really clear on that, because there have been a few issues where there were some errors made and there were some sinbins that we don’t think warranted for sin bin.
“But I will say, too, that unfortunately this season, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of high tackles and that is playing a role because more high tackles are always going to mean more penalties and more sinbins and we don’t want that.
“So, there’s also an opportunity for us to try and make sure that the players are focused on avoiding dangerous, and high contact, whatever possible.”
2021’s Magic Round had 14 sin bins and 3 send offs in a similar high tackle crackdown which drew similar criticisms from fans.
