Daly Cherry-Evans of Manly and Melbourne's Billy Slater speak with the referee during Saturday's match at AAMI Park.GETTY IMAGES
An "overburdened" National Rugby League ground official was "central to a time-keeping blunder" that resulted in two Manly Sea Eagles players returning early from the sin bin on Saturday, according to Scott Bailey of STUFF. Fallout from Manly's 24-4 win over the Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park continued on Sunday, with the Storm "ruling out a protest and the Sea Eagles' two competition points from the match appearing safe." But the NRL will "continue a review into the incident" in which Apisai Koroisau and Matt Wright returned from the bin one minute and 41 seconds earlier than they should have during the second half (STUFF, 5/20). In Sydney, Pengilly & Barrett reported the NRL will "consider introducing an NHL-style countdown clock" to be shown on stadium big screens and TV broadcasts to "avoid another timekeeping gaffe" as the Storm insists it "followed league procedure with a sideline sin bin operator." One measure to come under consideration is a policy "similar to American ice hockey," where players sent from the ice for foul play have their remaining penalty shown inside a stadium on a big screen and on public broadcasts. No such practice exists in the NRL (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 5/20).
