Coach vows to continue speaking his mind despite hefty fine

Sydney Roosters boss Trent Robinson has told Fox Sports that he won’t stop expressing his views, despite a $10,000 fine from the NRL for labelling the bunker’s process “incompetent”.

Robinson didn’t name individuals but called out the entire officiating crew and the NRL Bunker over their handling of an incident that left halfback Drew Hutchison hospitalised.

Parramatta playmaker Dylan Brown led with his knees in attempting to save a try as Hutchison dived to score on the stroke of half-time. The Eels’ halfback was put on report around 20 minutes after the incident and the Sydney boss wasn’t informed of the decision until the players were running back on for the second-half.

Robinson’s $10,000 penalty has been suspended on the proviso he refrains from reoffending, but it won’t stop him from speaking his mind.

“I’m here to give some commentary on my view of the game, and I think censorship when it is done in the right way, and I felt like I did that, is not really want our game wants,” Robinson said.

“Shining the light on a process is a bit different to questioning the integrity of referees or officials.

“There is a grey line there, but I wouldn’t have changed the press conference that I gave. I can understand the rules around the integrity of the refs, but questioning the process I think was fair and justified.

“And if they believe that is a breach, then it is a breach, but I wouldn’t have changed anything that I said in that press conference.

“It has been backed up by what the NRL has done in relation to those incidents, but that is life.

“It is not going to hurt the NRL, and it is not going to change the way I think or talk about things, so I’ll just move on.”