Panthers take action against NRL as Andrew Johns erupts over 'embarrassing' farce
The Penrith Panthers will challenge Scott Sorensen's two-match ban at the NRL judiciary in a major examination of the league's crackdown on high contact. The Panthers back-rower was sin-binned on Saturday night for a shoulder charge that collected Manly prop Nathan Brown in the head.
Brown wasn't even required to leave the field for a head injury assessment (HIA), but Sorensen was given his marching orders for 10 minutes. On Sunday morning, the match review committee hit Sorensen with a grade-two charge, which carries a two-game suspension with an early guilty plea.
But the Panthers will challenge the ruling at the NRL judiciary and are seeing a downgrade to a grade-one charge. That would result in just a $1500 fine and leave Soresen free to take on the Broncos in Brisbane in Magic Round.
If the Panthers are unsuccessful at the judiciary, Sorensen will be wiped out for three games and miss matches against the Cowboys and Knights as well. The hearing will be a true test of how on-board the judiciary is with the NRL's crackdown on high contact.
Scott Sorensen was sent to the sin bin for this shoulder charge. 📺 Watch #NRLPanthersManly on ch.502 or stream on Kayo: https://t.co/zhhMH81Fsx✍️ BLOG https://t.co/3C0MT0U0Yv🔢 MATCH CENTRE https://t.co/GusVYQPlQ7 pic.twitter.com/lwzvzuiRUn
— Fox League (@FOXNRL) April 26, 2025
A whopping 18 players were sin-binned in Round 8 - the majority for high tackles - after the NRL started clamping down on contact to the head about a month ago. The situation seemed to ramp up last weekend as multiple players were sin-binned in the next set of six following innocuous incidents.
Speaking on Channel 9 on Sunday, Andrew Johns urged NRL officials to make a public statement about what a player is supposed to do in Sorensen's situation. Johns pointed out that Sorensen risked injury to himself if he didn't brace for the contact or tried to tackle low, and would like dislocate a shoulder or elbow by wrapping his arms in such close proximity to teammates.
'They want players to defend low, but if Scott Sorensen goes low on Nathan Brown he's gonna knock himself out as cold as a spud,' Johns said on the Footy Show. 'If he wraps his arms, he will dislocate his shoulder – he has to brace and get himself into space. I have no idea what the NRL want this tackle to be and they have to come out tomorrow and explain what tackle they want in this situation.
"The breakdown of this sending players to the bin is absolutely farcical. It's gone beyond a joke. It is embarrassing. The over-analysis and the overreach of the bunker in play ... the bunker should be used only for try-scoring opportunities unless it's a send-off. If it's an out-and-out send-off and they miss it, then fair enough, come in and send the player off.
"Going back eight plays in a set of six where the referee doesn't see it, the touch judges don't see it, the players don't see it ... to send someone to the bin is absolutely farcical."
Tellingly, there's already seems to be a disconnect between the on-field calls being made and the match review committee. In recent years, a sin-bin has traditionally equated to a grade-two charge from the match review committee and at least a one-game ban. But the NRL has lowered the marker for a sin-bin in recent weeks, with officials believed to be happy with fines in some instances.
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Across the opening eight rounds, there have been 31 players sin-binned for dangerous acts. Of those, 17 have received suspensions and 12 have been fined. On two occasions, the match review committee cleared them altogether.
In contrast, the match review committee has handed out 13 suspensions to players who were not sin-binned on field. It means that of the 44 players sin-binned or suspended this season, the bunker and match review committee's stances have been different on 15 of them.
with AAP
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