Injury rule has fans shaking heads

League chair Warren

Gilkinson said the ruling came from NSW Rugby League and was designed with player safety in mind.

“The rule came in about four or fve years after the league did a study that showed that when games were stopped for long periods, like waiting for an ambulance for a seriously injured player, the ref shouldn’t stop the game,” Gilkinson said.

“The study found when games continued after a long break, a lot more players were injured. So they made a rule not to stop the clock for injuries in the second half.

“The only time the clock should stop for an injury is when the ref pulls up play to talk to a player about a bad shot like a high tackle.”

Gilkinson was at the game, but did not see the extent of the injury.

“The Sawtell president told me it was the worst broken arm he’d seen,” Gilkinson.

“There were a lot of loudmouths in the crowd, yelling dragging him off, but we’re guided by the orange shirts, and they said to wait for an ambulance.”

Gilkinson said the desire for players and fans to play games to a conclusion could end in farce of a different nature.

“There was an incident down at Orara years ago when a player was injured and they had to wait for the helicopter to come for him,” he said.

“The game didn’t end up fnishing to around 7pm in the dark and it was after that the league brought the rule in not to stop the clock for injuries in the second half.”

Slater said the game could have gone either way after the Ghosts hit a patch of poor discipline late in the second half.

“For the frst 30 minutes I couldn’t have been happier,” Slater said. “It was just about as good a football as we could play.

Try scoring wizard Dylan Collett, fresh from a hat trick the week before, opened the Ghosts account in the frst 10 minutes.

The Ghosts were in again midway through the half when heavy Ghosts defence jolted the ball free and fve-eighth Rhys Hambly toed ahead. He picked the ball up and raced for the line, where desperate cover cut him down a few metres short.

The Ghosts spread the ball to the right where second rower Liam Kelly only had to catch it and fall across the line.

Fullback Cooper Woods converted to make it 10-0 and it looked like it would only be a matter of how many the Ghosts would win by.

In the fnal minutes of the half the Ghosts became their own worst enemy, with a succession of penalties gifting Panthers possession. It told when hard running back rower

Peter Uikelotu surged across the line to open his team’s account and fullback Damion Dumas converted to make it 10-6 with just minutes left.

But it got worse for the Ghosts when Collett was penalised for a marginal high shot giving Sawtell one last crack at the line.

Hooker Jase Long wrestled his way over to bring the scores level at 10 apiece as the halftime siren sounded.

The second half began with the Grafton Ghosts getting a couple of penalties of their own and they made the Panthers pay when Collett powered his way over a few minutes in. Woods converted.

But Sawtell hit back soon after when they fnished a great set of six with a grubber into the in-goal, which lock Warren Jarrett pounced on to score. Dumas kicked the goal for 16-16 and the crowd was preparing for a grand stand fnish that didn’t happen.

With the controversial ruling behind them, Slater and the Ghosts turned their thoughts to next Sunday’s local derby at McKittrick Park against the South Grafton Rebels.

Slater, who missed the Panthers game due to a concussion ruling, will be back, adding punch to the pack.

“We’ve got a few players coming back next week, we had four missing from this game and I give credit to those players who backed up today. They did brilliantly.”

But he said the Rebels were always a tough proposition at McKittrick Park.

“They’re a different looking side to last year, but they always come up for these games. It’s going to be a good test for us.”

Scores

Grafton Ghosts 16: Tries Dylan Collett 2, Liam Kelly. Goals Cooper Woods 2, drew with Sawtell Panths 16: Tries Peter Uikelotu, Jase Long, Warren Jarrett. Goals: Damion Dumas 2.

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