NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has faced the music denying the NRL’s high shot crackdown is actually a crackdown and calling on the clubs to work with the game to stop high contact.
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There were a stunning 18 sin bins in Round 8 amid widespread condemnation of the Bunker officiating and how it is hurting the rugby league product from experts, commentators and fans alike.
In a wide-ranging interview on NRL 360, Abdo denied there was a crackdown, but admitted the game can get better collectively to protect the players from foul play, while maintaining the integrity of the on-field product.
“Let me first say it hasn’t been a crackdown at all,” Abdo said on NRL 360.
“There’s been no policy shift. It’s always been illegal to tackle high and we’ve been sin-binning and penalising high tackles for the game going back decades.
“We’ve been really consistent around this the last couple of years. We’re not going to apologise or take a backwards step for protecting players from head high shots.
“However, what I will say is that we’ve seen a couple of errors. We’ve seen a couple of judgment calls that perhaps weren’t correct and it was important to acknowledge that, take accountability for that and we’ll adjust and hopefully we’ll see improvements now in the weeks that follow.”
Abdo admitted the Bunker and the on-field referees got a number of calls wrong in Round 8.
“I think there were some calls that were wrong and look and we understand some of the frustration, particularly when the Bunker intervenes in play a number of plays down the track,” Abdo said.
“We can understand why there’s frustration with that. The bar for that was always intended to be quite high.
“It needs to be serious or significant foul play for the Bunker to intervene and to bin someone once the play is moved on. That’s something that we want to work on with the referees.”
HOW DO WE GET THE BALANCE RIGHT?
The biggest frustration fans seem to have is the game being slowed down to rule on previous plays and getting the balance right between protecting players and keeping the game enjoyable to watch.
“Yeah no one likes it,” Abdo said of the inconsistency and stoppages.
“I think a good example of that is that interplay between the on-field referee and the Bunker is the way we work around tries.
“So here we back the on-field referee to make the call and it’s checked in the background by the Bunker and it works really well. It’s quick and they’ll only intervene if it’s an obvious no try.
“I think we need to think about how we empower the referees on field more.
“Of course we have technology. We need to use it, but what we don’t want is the play coming back and I think that’s reserved for a really serious significant foul play and it’s probably been overused in the last couple of weeks.”
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ARE WE SEEING MORE HEAD HIGH TACKLES?
The spate of sin bins for head high tackles in 2025 begs the question are there more high tackles or is it an NRL crackdown?
However, Abdo revealed high tackles are up 90 per cent from this time last year.
“We’ve definitely seen an increase in head high tackles this season,” Abdo said.
“So this time last year, up to Round 8, we had about 200 head high tackles. This year we’ve had about 379. So we’ve seen an increase but it’s different for each team.
“So some of the players and some of the teams are adapting better than others. Some teams haven’t had a sin been for a head high tackle this season. Some teams have only given away three penalties. Others significantly more than that.
“So there’s quite a lot of inconsistency around the way in which the players are being really disciplined about it.
“Now we understand that from time to time there will be mitigation and again we want to make sure that the referees are empowered to act. They’re looking for specific things.
“They’re looking for force, but they’re also looking for mitigation and they get those calls right. And this weekend there were some errors where that mitigation wasn’t applied and it goes both ways.”
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BUZZ CHALLENGES NRL’S NO CRACKDOWN STANCE
Veteran journalist Phil Rothfield challenged Abdo’s assertion there has been no crackdown from the NRL in recent weeks.
“Andrew, I’d challenge you on saying there’s been no crackdown and I take your point that you’re suggesting there’s been more head high tackles this year,” Rothfield said.
“I think the footy is very similar to what it was last year and the bottom line is and the statistics don’t lie here, sin bins are up 140 per cent. Reports are up 75 per cent.
“And I hope you do understand and look I can totally understand you coming in here defending the people who work for you.
“But there is massive fan outrage out there about the officiating in the game around the sin binnings and people think it is a crackdown.”
However, Abdo put the rise in sin bins down to the fact there have been almost double the high tackles this season and some players and clubs are not copping the tip.
“This is not about me being defensible coming here saying there’s nothing to see,” Abdo said.
”We are taking accountability for that. But coming back to your stats, what I’m saying is there’s over a 90 per cent increase in the number of high tackles and we’re seeing a lot of inconsistency between the clubs as well, which means that I honestly believe there’s a collective effort that’s required here.
“And the accountability does sit with the game. It does sit with the officials too. But we also need everyone to pull together and make sure that we don’t see a situation like we saw this weekend with a huge number of sin bins.
“None of us want to see penalties. None of us want to see sin bins. None of us want to see head-high tackles either. So there’s a collective effort here.”
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ARE REFEREES LOOKING TO BLOW PENALTIES?
Braith Anasta noted a number of confounding high tackle penalties and sin bins were given in Round 8, despite there being minimal to in some cases no high contact.
“My concern is that there were a number of penalties on the weekend for high contact when the players didn’t even make high contact, which to me suggests that the referees are really looking for it,” Anasta said.
“They’re looking to blow the penalties for high contact when there was at least two or three where there really wasn’t much at all if any.”
In response Abdo admitted that mistakes were made, but he believes the referees and the Bunker will improve in Magic Round and beyond.
“I’m not going to disagree with you, I’ve already said that I think there were a number of errors in applying the decisions for what constitutes a sin bin,” Abdo said.
“Even potentially what constitutes a penalty, so we want to support the referees and make sure that they are using the indicators as a guideline.
“You know there’s things to look for in mitigation and I think that needs to be taken into account similarly with level of force.
“We want to make sure that it’s significant level of force and there’s no mitigation before we go to a sin bin and I completely agree that there were a number of calls that should not have been a sin bin.
“Equally there were a few calls that weren’t binned that probably should have been as well, so it goes both ways and we want to keep getting better.”
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WILL MAGIC ROUND BE RUINED?
The big fear for frustrated NRL fans is that Magic Round will be ruined by a focus on over-officiating and take away from the on-field spectacle, as it has in the past amid similar crackdowns.
However, Abdo is confident the on-field product will improve from Round 8 to Magic Round.
“I can never give insurances on anything really, that that’s part of why we love professional sport right?” Abdo said.
“But what I can say is that we have listened. I can say that we review each and every match each and every round and we’ve looked at some of the errors that occurred this weekend and we want to make sure that they don’t get repeated.
“So I think that what you’re going to see is definitely less intervention from the Bunker when play has moved on.
“That threshold is really high and I think you’re going to see the referees applying mitigation more effectively.”
Abdo was pressed on whether the Bunker going back multiple plays will be scrapped?
“Only if it’s significant or serious foul play,” Abdo said.
“What we’re saying is that bar is really high, so it’s going to be a serious act of foul play, not necessarily a send off, but it’s going to be something that warrants play going back and a player being sin-binned.”
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IS THE BUNKER THE PROBLEM?
Many NRL fans and experts believe the game was far better off without the Bunker and that the intervention is hurting the on-field referees’ performances and the spectacle of the sport as a whole.
However, Abdo believes the NRL need to keep working on the interplay between the Bunker and the referees to ensure the right calls are made and the players and the spectacle of the sport are protected.
“I think the on-field refs and the referees in general do a great job,” Abdo said.
“I agree that the use of Bunker technology, there are ways in which we can strive for… we’ll never get full consistency because every tackle is different. And ultimately, even though they have technologies, there are humans making judgment calls, right? Real time with a lot of pressure on them.
“But we can get better. And I think more specialisation in that role of using technology and better interplay between the on-field and the Bunker and the game providing more clarity around their parameters for what they can and can’t rule on, so I think it’s a combination of many things.”
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