Vision has emerged of another breach of the rules by a Panthers trainer, in the moments after the incident involving Corey Bocking and Titans halfback Jayden Campbell.
Another Panthers trainer, Shane Elford, was seen on the field longer than he should have been in the set of six where Nathan Cleary kicked his two-point field goal to send the game into golden point.
As a blue shirt trainer, Elford was supposed to have left the field after the fourth tackle. But he was seen on the field after the fifth tackle, as Cleary landed his stunning field goal.
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Under the rules, blue shirt trainers are only allowed on the field when there are stoppages, or to run messages three times per half, but must be off the field after the fourth tackle.
Penrith’s refusal to abide by the rules sent The Daily Telegraph reporter Paul Crawley into a rage on NRL 360 on Tuesday night.
“This is Shane Elford out on the field, the Panthers trainer,” Crawley said, as the panel looked at vision of Elford out on the field.
“They’ve got to be off by tackle four.
“And he’s stayed on for every tackle, and stayed on for tackle five as Nathan’s lined up for the field goal.
“He’s finally got to the sideline right at the end and he hasn’t stopped giving his messages the whole way.
“So this is minutes after (the Bocking incident).”
Crawley then teed off on the premiers.
“You know what this is?” Crawley asked.
“This is an up yours, a stuff you, to the NRL rules. They couldn’t care less what the rules are.
“So the NRL’s response to this is that it’s up to the ground manager to enforce this but if the ground manager misses it, bloody enforce it afterwards.
“It shows the arrogance of their trainers at the moment.”
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Fellow panellist Andrew Webster agreed with Crawley’s assessment.
“It’s one of these to the NRL, that’s what it is,” Webster added.
Co-host Braith Anasta felt there was no need for Elford to be on the field.
“You can see here, Shane is trying to set them up for this field goal,” Anasta said.
“Watch him point back to the 40 metre line here.
“Nathan Cleary doesn’t need Shane Elford to tell him, it’s unnecessary.”
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