Psycho Doggie
Kennel Immortal
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2014
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The RL writer at the Guardian sums it up well and entertainingly:
[h=2]Diving is all the rage[/h]Just as water will always find its level so too will a professional athlete find a way to stretch the rules. So when the video referee’s remit began to include scrutinising tackles that lead to an injury break in play it was no real surprise that diving became a feature in the NRL. Did Canterbury’s Michael Ennis take a dive on Friday night as suggested by the Roosters? Well, he’s always had that Artful Dodger thing going on, so you wouldn’t rule it out, but every team does it so it was interesting the Roosters, despite living in a glasshouse, decided to throw stones.
Of course, plenty of people find diving in rugby league beyond the pale. It’s a man’s game, isn’t it? Back in the day you wouldn’t stay down even if the opposing prop struck you with a rusty hatchet. You wouldn’t lay about like a simpering nancy boy unless you had a bloody good reason, like being dead. How times have changed. It’s because we got rid of national service, you know? But look, maybe it’s not as bad as we think. We’re not talking about the sort of dives we see in soccer where men (women don’t tend to do it) go down like a Taser victim after the merest hint of contact, or even none at all. No, generally the rugby league dive has been preceded by a genuine blow that the ‘victim’ is pretty sure was illegal. It may not have hurt him in the slightest but, he asks himself, should that matter? Why not use the opportunity for a rest, and to give the video referee time to have a look. Really, I’m just facilitating justice, and a penalty to my team, he reasons. We may not agree with such action, but it seems naïve to be surprised by it or to pretend it’s something only other teams do.
Source
[h=2]Diving is all the rage[/h]Just as water will always find its level so too will a professional athlete find a way to stretch the rules. So when the video referee’s remit began to include scrutinising tackles that lead to an injury break in play it was no real surprise that diving became a feature in the NRL. Did Canterbury’s Michael Ennis take a dive on Friday night as suggested by the Roosters? Well, he’s always had that Artful Dodger thing going on, so you wouldn’t rule it out, but every team does it so it was interesting the Roosters, despite living in a glasshouse, decided to throw stones.
Of course, plenty of people find diving in rugby league beyond the pale. It’s a man’s game, isn’t it? Back in the day you wouldn’t stay down even if the opposing prop struck you with a rusty hatchet. You wouldn’t lay about like a simpering nancy boy unless you had a bloody good reason, like being dead. How times have changed. It’s because we got rid of national service, you know? But look, maybe it’s not as bad as we think. We’re not talking about the sort of dives we see in soccer where men (women don’t tend to do it) go down like a Taser victim after the merest hint of contact, or even none at all. No, generally the rugby league dive has been preceded by a genuine blow that the ‘victim’ is pretty sure was illegal. It may not have hurt him in the slightest but, he asks himself, should that matter? Why not use the opportunity for a rest, and to give the video referee time to have a look. Really, I’m just facilitating justice, and a penalty to my team, he reasons. We may not agree with such action, but it seems naïve to be surprised by it or to pretend it’s something only other teams do.
Source
