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"End of rugby league as we knew it": NRL legend slams bunker interventions
Sam Kosack • April 28th, 2025 6:03 pm
NRL legend Greg Alexander has slammed the NRL over the high tackle crackdown, labelling it the “end of rugby league as we know” after there were 18 sin bins over Round 8.
Round 8 saw a high tackle crackdown introduced by the NRL, with the bunker frequently intervening on high tackles not ruled on by the on-field referees to retroactively sin bin players, often a set after the incident occurred.
The sharp increase in the use of the bunker and harsher penalties on sin bins has drawn criticism from all corners of the rugby league community, including Alexander who heavily criticised the role of the bunker.
“I texted (Voss) at 9:30 Saturday night... and the text read 'It’s the end of rugby league as we knew it'! Am I being overdramatic?” Alexander said on SEN 1170 Breakfast.
“What are we trying to turn the game into and why are we penalising players for accidents with minimal force?
“Do the people making these decisions actually understand what rugby league is? Like, do they understand that it's a collision sport? Do they not understand that force and physics play a part in what's happening in this game?
“If I'm running at you, Andrew (Voss), you get yourself set to stop me. You can't stop me if you are standing there like a lily pad! You need to brace yourself and get ready to whack me.
“Even the Scott Sorenson shoulder charge… under these rules, the kickoff is an absolute disaster. Sorenson turned his body to brace himself for impact.
“It’s just mind bogglingly stupid!”
NRL commentator and co-host Andrew Voss agreed he strongly disagreed with how high tackles are being ruled on.
“I find that of all the things over my lifetime following rugby league, the bunker intervention with a retrospective going back sets to find relatively minor incidents and send players to the sin bin for what were accidents is as outrageous as anything I think I've encountered,” Voss remarked.
“We all want the best for the game. I’m being sincere. I genuinely feel sorry for our referees… if they are carrying out this edict because they love the game as much as us.
“What are we trying to turn the game into and why are we penalizing players for accidents?”
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has conceded the bunker overstepped in the latest round, and announced the bunker would pull back in the frequency of when it intervenes.
“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 really there for an exceptionally 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.”
