Rounds One and Two in Super League have seen excellent play marred by controversial officiating, something that prompted Salford Red Devils full-back Ryan Brierley to call for a meeting of Super League captains.
Brierley had been vocal after Round One, as was Alex Walmsley, but following the “mind-blowingly bad decision” to send off Nu Brown in Round Two, Brierley took the lead as a host of Super League stars reacted to the decision.
Brierley took to X, formerly Twitter, to call for a meeting between the 12 Super League captains to formulate a plan to take to the RFL to combat the issues in the game.
He clarified that it wasn’t simply about the stricter head contact laws but about multiple other issues as well.
The Scotland international posted: “It’s not just about the head contact situation. It’s about all aspects of the game I feel we should have a voice on. It’s just a start, but let’s get 12 captains on a zoom call and have a conversation and let’s take some points to the RFL and see where it takes us.”
He then doubled down on that: “Will reach out to all 12 captains over the next week and any player that wants to join the zoom call reach out for sure. I think for now, everyone put there attention into supporting this weekends games. Hopefully we can come up with a solution.”
It would now seem that he has managed to get that meeting, something that the RFL revealed when they confirmed that Nu Brown would not receive a ban for that controversial red card.
RFL confirm that Super League ‘captains meeting’ will happen in efforts to fend off strike
The dozens of calls for action from the likes of Brierley, Walmsley and England skipper George Williams, to name a few, have clearly made an impact as the RFL have confirmed a meeting is set to take place.
With suggestions that players could even strike it has almost been the case that the RFL have been backed into a corner and forced into the meeting, highlighting the growing player power within the game.
Hidden within their admittance that Brown’s red card was unmerited, details of Brierley’s proposed meeting have been announced.
The relevant part of the announcement comes in the final paragraph before Robert Hicks’ quotes begin.
Referring to the change in how head contact is policed, the announcement reads: “This point will be reinforced to Betfred Super League head coaches at a pre-arranged meeting on Wednesday, and to playing representatives of all 12 Super League clubs at a separate meeting later in the day.”
Wednesday afternoon or possibly evening will be when the players take control and take their grievances to the RFL, an event that could truly have explosive conclusions.
It could be feasible that if the players don’t like the response they get from the RFL that the talk of strike becomes a full-scale plan on when and how to take action.
All eyes will be on any announcements early Thursday morning.
RFL admit error on Nu Brown red card
The RFL’s full statement on Nu Brown’s red card can be seen below, with that all-important snippet tucked away in the final paragraph.
“Following Monday’s meeting of the Match Review Panel, the RFL acknowledges that the implementation of the new Head Contact Sentencing Framework caused controversy and confusion during Round Two of the Betfred Super League.
“WThis was most obvious in Friday’s match at Warrington Wolves, with the dismissal of Hull FC’s Nu Brown late in the first half.
“On studying the incident, the MRP decided it did not merit a charge under the Framework. This has highlighted a lack of clarity in the procedures regarding head on head contact, which left the officials at Friday’s game in an invidious position.
“The section of the Framework relating to head-on-head contact will now be amended, emphasising that it applies only to initial contact. Once the mechanics of the tackle become more fluid, officials are able to use their knowledge and game-understanding to mitigate the sanction, to reflect the level of culpability of the tackler.
“This point will be reinforced to Betfred Super League head coaches at a pre-arranged meeting on Wednesday, and to playing representatives of all 12 Super League clubs at a separate meeting later in the day.”
