Sam Burgess offers ‘quick fix’ to end ‘comical’ play-acting trend plaguing Super League

Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess has proposed a ‘quick fix’ for how Super League can solve its growing problem of ‘play-acting’.

The trend of players staying down after tackles has grown this year with the introduction of the video referee at every game and in recent weeks, it seems to have taken to new heights.

Players appear to have learned that should they stay down long enough then the video referee will check the incident, which has resulted in sin bins of late, most notably for Jai Whitbread, Lachlan Fitzgibbon and Matty Lees this weekend.

Willie Peters suggested that players were being ‘coached’ to stay down when he assessed Whitbread’s sin bin and now Sam Burgess has revealed how Super League can stop the issue altogether.

As reported by The Warrington Guardian, Burgess outlined his plan to stop players attempting to ‘milk’ sin bins when speaking after his side’s 16-2 win over St Helens.

He explained: “If you stay down for a period of time, it is a category one (11 days stood down) in the NRL. There would be less wingers and outside backs staying down if they know it is a category one.

“I think if staying down for a certain period of time meant category one. It would be pretty simple. We had this in the NRL and it stopped this pretty quick. Category one means out for 11 days. You watch how quickly they stop staying down because everyone wants to play next week. It is a quick fix.”

Sam Burgess slams ‘comical’ sin bins

Two early yellow cards were shown during Warrington’s win with one coming for each side. Both times, the yellow card was flashed after a player stayed down and the video referee intervened.

That’s a situation that Sam Burgess has now labelled comical, the Wire boss being the latest in a long line of fans and pundits to call out the situation, even speaking about it prior to kick-off.

“It was almost comical. We had a card, they had a card, we had a card. I don’t know what we are doing,” Burgess explained after the victory.

“The game stopped for five and a half minutes for the first card but then the player gives the thumbs up and plays on. If you have to stop for five and a half minutes, do we not have concussion protocol? That would stop players staying down.”

Jon Wilkin had torn into the fact that Tyler Dupree did not leave the field for a HIA during Wigan’s victory over Hull KR, despite the England forward staying down for an extended period. The ex-St Helens captain also hit out at Josh Drinkwater over his ‘play-acting’ that saw Matty Lees sin binned.

In response, Sam Burgess pulled no punches: “It is Jon’s opinion isn’t it? Did he say anything about the other one? Who did Jon play for again? I don’t want to go down this rabbit hole but this is a tough game and I am not questioning that.”

When asked about the trend of play-acting, Burgess referenced Sam Tomkins’ assessment of the Tyler Dupree situation the night prior: “I think it is clear to see. I am being honest about it and calling a spade a spade. Sam Tomkins said last night about Tyler Dupree. I am not saying he stayed down but I thought he got pretty hard in the head last night but Sam Tomkins said in commentary I can’t be angry with him because it got them a yellow card and won them the game.”

“The game’s never been safer” – Warrington boss offers solution to ‘loopholes’

After questioning the motivation behind Jon Wilkin’s opinions on Josh Drinkwater, Burgess backed his player and all players as he explained that toughness is paramount to being a Super League player. However, he did accept that players are quickly exposing loopholes.

“Everyone who is on the field has got an element of toughness about them but they are playing within the rules, we all see them. Players understand that there are loopholes.”

He would then reassert his idea on how to stop the issue, by introducing a mandatory category one (11 day stand down) for any such incidents of play-acting.

“The game has never been safer, the recovery protocols, concussion protocols, player safety, players looking after each other, it has never been safer. The amount of time off they need, sports science, the game has never been safer.

“Let’s make it that if you are down for a certain period of time, category one, see you later. You have to stand down. I can’t help but be honest about the game I care about so much, I feel it will change pretty quick if we can take those steps.”