The NRL has today issued the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles with a breach notice outlining a $10,000 fine in relation to coach Geoff Toovey’s post-match comments.
Under NRL guidelines coaches are not permitted to question the integrity of the match officials nor make excessive or unjustified criticisms of their performances.
Excessive criticism is deemed as moving beyond identifying perceived errors and making an emotional attack on match officials.
“I accept that emotion is a big part of our game but that is not an excuse for making unwarranted attacks on match officials,” NRL Head of Football, Mr Todd Greenberg, said today.
“There needs to be a balance between coach’s expressing their opinions and their emotions and showing respect for the game and the match officials in that process.”
NRL Referees Elite Performance Manager, Mr Daniel Anderson, added: “The performance of the match officials in a fiercely contested game on Friday night was very good.
“With the Steve Matai ruling, the officials followed the proper procedures in the video review process and arrived at the correct decision.
“The referee on the field ruled the player grounded the ball short and was then held up and there was insufficient video evidence to warrant over-ruling that decision.”
The Sea Eagles will have five working days to make submissions in relation to the breach notice.