See I disagree. I think this year they have been more consistant than last. Forgot completely about last year, this year things have changed and the decissions have been consistant. At least you know the rules this year. Last year was more of a lotto.
In the Morris case, he decided to bumb, went in low, kept his elbow down but still got Elliot a little high, but no real damage done. A free kick or a minor report. Remembering Elliot didn't have the ball, so tackling is out, but bumping is still ok as long as its no more than 5 meters off the ball.. I think a 1 week suspension is about right for a bump that was exicuted quiet well but slide up a little to graze the side of Elliots head. Now that was right in front of me and if Morris didn't do what he did, I'd be filthy. Good result for the RFC
Agree it's a great result for the RFC, especially considering they didn't even look at the Morris "bump" on Swan which IMV was worse than the Elliott one
But where we disagree is the consistency of the MRP. To me they are horribly inconsistent especially if you compare what was reportable last year to this and the panel being the same. Pretty sure Mark Fraser was the head of it last year stand corrected if I am wrong there. they seemed to be interpreting things very differently this year to last, hence why people are confused and frustrated
I am still scratching my head as to how Thomas from N0rt got off in round 1 after Zieball got pinged last year. The Ziebell one was the precedant for head high contact regarding blokes leaving the ground and hitting a bloke in the head whether it was deliberate or accidental. But that whole duty of care thing seems to have been turfed aside in 2013. The Morris bump on Swan was almost a carbon copy of the Ziebell one but Morris doesn't get looked at. Why? It doesn't make sense. But as I said somewhere along the line in 2013, someone will again get suspended for that sort of bump and the howls of complaint will again be on
Again IMV the Morris one on Elliott is similar to the Thomas one in that in both cases the players (Thomas & Morris) both had eyes for the opponent not the ball and both were off the ground. Only difference being Morris bumped with the shoulder and Thomas not only hit him with the shoulder but his head made contact and that happened to cause the most damage. So why has Morris been suspended and Thomoas wasn't? Thomas certainly did more damage that Morris did
As I said I'd take the week and run but it still doesn't stop me from doing this
when it comes to the MRP