Does the Punishment Fit the Crime

Kenty gives his thoughts on the NRL’s "interpretation on the run" following a chaotic week at the judiciary. From Josh Papalii’s "miracle" clearance to the confusion surrounding the hip-drop tackle, Kenty exposes a game he believes is increasingly existing in a "grey area" created by inconsistent adjudication.

Judicial Confusion and "Interpretation on the Run"

Kent begins by addressing Josh Papalii's successful challenge at the judiciary, calling it a "miracle of miracles" while arguing the charge should never have been laid. He suggests the incident highlights a broader issue of confusion within the NRL’s leadership.

"It shits me to tears the way they sit there and they constantly are adjusting interpretation on the run and it just means we're all confused. We all don't know what's happening, we all have different opinions, and there's no clarity on this is right or this is wrong," Kent said.

He points the finger at the NRL Commission and CEO Andrew Abdo, but notes that Head of Football Graham Annesley is also caught in the middle.

"Graham Annesley is a people pleaser and I mean that in the highest regard. He's a lovely bloke and he just tries to do the right thing by everybody, but I think sometimes he gets probably a little bit too guilty of listening to people's arguments. Coaches are very, very good at manipulating rules or manipulating interpretations of rules particularly to their favour," Kent added.

The Hip-Drop Dilemma: Accident or Strategy?

The debate over the hip-drop tackle intensified after Daly Cherry-Evans received a four-week suspension for a tackle that broke Matt Frawley’s leg. Kent argues that while coaches like Wayne Bennett claim they no longer know what a hip-drop is, the technique is actually evolving to exploit loopholes.

"Coaches won't coach away from that. It's too effective a way to tackle to stop your players doing it. They are going to try and insist that their players keep doing it. They're going to try and adjust on the way so that you don't end up in what we would call a classic hip-drop. They're coming in from the side and we saw in Funa's case he didn't even hit the legs, but the referees thought it resembled it enough for him to be put on report," Kent said.

He believes the current four-week punishment for a season-ending injury is insufficient.

"A broken leg—that's got to give you 10 to 12 weeks on the sideline. A four-week charge is probably not enough. I don't agree with the idea of if you're out 10 weeks with an injury the player should be out for 10 weeks as well, but we really do need to sit down and say these types of tackles which are causing injuries and long-term injuries, the suspension needs to be bigger," Kent said.

The "Tunnel Ball" Play-the-Ball

Kent expresses frustration over the NRL’s failed crackdown on play-the-balls, citing a blatant "tunnel ball" by the Dolphins that led to a try on the weekend. He proposes a simple, "no ball" style fix.

"The way you've got to fix it—if you treat the play of the ball essentially like a no ball in cricket. If you say when a try is scored, let's go back to review. If he does not play the ball properly, say mate sorry, penalty the other way. What that will do is it'll force the clubs to go away and during the week work on their play the ball. It'll force them to do it because you can imagine a coach saying to his back rower, 'Why didn't you play the ball properly? You've cost us a try,'" Kent said.

The Tigers’ "Pantomime" and Manager Leverage

Returning to the Wests Tigers and the Lachlan Galvin saga, Kent reviews Shane Richardson’s recent attempts at damage control. He suggests that the narrative surrounding Galvin is being manipulated by his manager, Isaac Moses, as part of a long-standing feud with the club and Benji Marshall.

"What people probably are not getting here is this could be almost entirely if not entirely just leverage from the manager to get him out of the club to pick a fight to get him out of the club. All these people have turned on Galvin and said he shouldn't be picked because he bagged the coach—he never bagged the coach. No one has heard him bag the coach. Shane Richardson has not heard him bag the coach," Kent said.

Kent warns that the Tigers have a looming problem with another Isaac Moses client.

"The problem for the Tigers, and this really needs—this is why they probably need to come to some common ground with Isaac Moses. The problem for the Tigers is that the manager of Jahream Bula, their star fullback coming through, is the one and only Isaac Moses, who has a clause in his contract at the end of next season he can get out," Kent added.

Roster Moves: Latrell at Fullback and Cobbo’s Test

Finally, Kent weighs in on Wayne Bennett’s decision to move Latrell Mitchell back to fullback, dropping Jye Gray to the bench.

"Latrell's your match winner, he's the guy that's got to make the difference in the game. He was always going to go back there. I think if Jye Gray—which everything you've heard about him is he's just got a tremendous attitude—I think it's an easy sell to say mate we're not abandoning you, you're not being punished, it's just the reality of football," Kent said.

Regarding Selwyn Cobbo’s shift to fullback for the Broncos, Kent sees it as a high-stakes audition.

"There's been talk about him being shopped around as a fullback to try and get the fullback money. I think it's an indication of how much Michael Maguire wants to win this game. There's no doubt teams will be looking at Cobbo at fullback and saying, 'Okay well what's he like, how's he going to go, and can we invest in him in that position for our club in the future?'" Kent said.

Watch the full episode on Fanatics TV.

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