Jt Sideline Business May Cost Souths

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday April 15, 2008

Brad Walter

South Sydney 10

Cronulla 12

SOUTHS face a fine to compound their failure last night to record a first win of the season after Jason Taylor called his players from the field for a motivational address midway through the second half of their match at ANZ Stadium.

The unprecedented scene, which unfolded after centre Beau Champion had crossed for a try in the 57th minute to put South Sydney within two points of Cronulla after trailing 12-0 before half-time, is set to result in the Rabbitohs receiving a official reprimand - and possibly a breach notice from the NRL.

But victorious Sharks coach Ricky Stuart suggested the Rabbitohs would have been stripped of the two competition points had they managed to snatch victory in a tense final 21 minutes after Taylor summoned his side to the touchline while winger Nathan Merritt lined up the conversion attempt in a scene more reminiscent of the NFL than the NRL.

While Taylor insisted he had been unaware the ploy was illegal until Souths director of football Shane Richardson told him the premiership points would have been in jeopardy had they won, halfback Jeremy Smith was reluctant to cross the sideline and had to be coerced by his coach.

"I just wanted to get a message to the team and I knew that I wasn't allowed to approach the sideline, so I got the boys to come to me. But you're not allowed to do that either," Taylor said afterwards.

"You're not allowed to talk to them as a coach so I suppose that's what the runner is for. I understand that now. Shane Richardson and I had a chat about it, and he said it's a bit dangerous."

NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley explained that players were not allowed to cross the sideline without the permission of match officials and said the Rabbitohs would be reminded of the rule.

"Every time a try is scored, you could have a huddle on the sideline. It's not what happens in our game and we'll be clarifying the matter with Souths," Annesley said.

The incident was likened to St George Illawarra coach Nathan Brown's calling of Trent Barrett, Lance Thompson and Brett Firman to the sideline during a a break in one of his first matches in charge at WIN Stadium in 2003.

While Taylor did not engage in those sort of face-slapping activities, his actions could have had far more serious consequences had Souths won.

"I don't know what happened ... but what I do know is that if they had have won, they wouldn't have got [the points]," Stuart said. "It's against the rules. You're not allowed to do that, you've got to get the tough judge's permission if you do that - and they didn't.

"I feel for Jason at the moment. He's going through a tough time. Every coach goes through it and it's a very lonely situation ... and when you're in that sort of rut, things like that happen."

Richardson defended Taylor and said the incident was an example of how desperate he was to lift the Rabbitohs to a win. "He didn't understand that he couldn't do it," Richardson said. "He was just focused on trying to get a win. It's just a sign of how passionate he is."

Asked what he was trying to achieve, Taylor said: "I just wanted to make an alteration to the way we were playing. That's why I wanted to talk to all of them - because I just thought we lacked support around the middle of the field."

While Merritt failed to level the scores, Taylor's address got them fired up for the remaining 21 minutes of play and the Sharks had to dig deep to hang on for victory.

Two early tries, through lock Greg Bird and winger Luke Covell, highlighted an opening 30 minutes Stuart said was the best his side had played this season.

Taylor was also pleased with the effort and commitment of his side and felt they were getting closer to a win but just needed to improve their execution.

CRONULLA 12 (G Bird L Covell tries L Covell 2 goals) bt SOUTH SYDNEY 10 (J Sutton B Champion tries N Merritt goal) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: J Robinson. Crowd: 12,988.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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