NRL Round 24 Paul Crawley column, analysis, bunker’s baffling fail on Stephen Crichton referee incident, why Broncos may owe Gorden Tallis apology

NRL DAILY: ‘They don’t care’: Legend goes scorched earth on ‘disgusting’ Broncos

And we all know this isn’t Crichton’s first rodeo when it comes to getting the so-called benefit of the doubt on 50/50 calls.

There was the high shot on Setu Tu in Las Vegas this year that springs immediately to mind.

The grubby face rake on Ryan Papenhuyzen last year.

The infamous Kyle Flanagan biting incident that Crichton initiated.

I could name several other contentious incidents off the top of my head where Crichton got the rub of the green.

But you get my point.

Now we have this.

And the even bigger concern for every other team in the countdown to the finals is the precedent the Bunker has now set.

If Crichton can move into a referee’s path, accidentally or intentionally, and benefit from it, why wouldn’t other players try the same thing in the coming weeks/months?

Imagine a no try call like this deciding a finals match.

Or, heaven forbid, a grand final.

DCE’S DECISION ALREADY VINDICATED

One of the ballsiest calls we’ve seen from an NRL player in years is looking more inspired by the week.

Daly Cherry-Evans would have known exactly what he was walking into when he made the extraordinary decision to leave Manly and join the Sydney Roosters.

The fact he’d turned 37 before the season even kicked off meant there was always going to be enormous pressure.

If it went wrong, people would say he should have finished his career as a one-club legend rather than chase one last shot at a premiership.

Instead, DCE backed himself, and right now he’s being vindicated.

His performance against Penrith was easily his best of the season, perhaps his best in some years.

Up against Nathan Cleary, Cherry-Evans showed class and composure.

He not only scored both of the Roosters’ tries, but it was his all-round game management that really stood out.

And that experience is going to be huge for Trent Robinson come September.

Sam Walker also deserves enormous credit after handling his big week off the field.

But this was DCE’s night.

The Roosters have now won eight straight to climb to the top of the ladder.

At the start of the year plenty thought Cherry-Evans would probably have to guide the Roosters to a grand final to justify the decision to bring him in ahead of Hugo Savala.

We’re not there yet.

But there is already no denying this has been a masterstroke.

Cooper Cronk came to the Roosters late in his career and helped deliver back-to-back premierships.

Cherry-Evans now has the opportunity to write his own remarkable final chapter before heading to Hull next year.

METCALF INJURY HIGHLIGHTS WARRIORS’ GREATEST STRENGTH

It’s a measure of the team Andrew Webster has moulded that the Warriors can lose another key playmaker and still not skip a beat.

And as sad as it was to see Luke Metcalf hobble off with a hamstring injury, how Chanel Harris-Tavita stepped up to take charge in the thumping 40-6 win over Brisbane was another reminder of why the Warriors are the best side in the competition when it comes to overcoming injuries/adversity.

At this time of the year, that can be every bit as important as proving how good you are at full strength.

We’ve seen in recent weeks how much the loss of Isaah Yeo impacts Penrith.

Can you imagine the Roosters playing to their potential without DCE or Walker, let alone both?

Yes, they were without James Tedesco on Thursday night.

But the Warriors have been forced to deal with the loss of Tanah Boyd, Te Maire Martin, now Metcalf is out again.

And Harris-Tavita takes control as though he has been running the show since round one.

It doesn’t seem to matter who goes out or who comes in.

They just keep humming along.

James Fisher-Harris has been an outstanding leader, while Mitch Barnett and Erin Clark help set a tremendous platform up front.

But Dallin Watene-Zelezniak summed it up perfectly after the game when he spoke about every player being so clear on their individual role.

That next-man-up mentality doesn’t happen by accident.

It comes back to coaching.

DO BRONCOS OWE GORDEN TALLIS AN APOLOGY?

Is it still Gorden Tallis’ fault what has gone wrong at the Broncos this season?

The Broncos removed Tallis’ name from the club’s headquarters back in late March because they were apparently fed up with his criticism of the club and particularly coach Michael Maguire.

Well, here we are five months down the track and I wonder what they made of Andrew Johns’ spray on the Sunday Footy Show after Joey absolutely let rip following the humiliation against the Warriors.

Pulling up vision of Chanel Harris-Tavita’s try as exhibit A, Johns fired: “The way they didn’t tie in on the inside, it was horrible. That showed that they don’t care.

“They couldn’t care less. They don’t care if they win or lose at the moment.”

That is about as damning an assessment as you can make of any football team, but especially coming from a rugby league Immortal.

For what seems like months now, Maguire has fronted press conferences week after week defending his players, insisting the effort was still there.

But even Madge looked completely lost after this one.

Take away that shock win over Penrith and Brisbane has now lost 12 of its past 13 games.

This was their 15th defeat of the season, setting a new record for the most losses by a defending premier.

Now they have Canberra on Friday night without Reece Walsh.

But at this point it shouldn’t even be about winning.

Surely it is simply about showing some pride in the jersey just getting out there and having a bloody go.

Which brings us back to Gorden’s point.

Because as for what they find out when they do their much talked about end-of-season review, I think we all know where that is heading.

It is obvious to everyone outside the club that the players and the coach are just not on same page, and haven’t been for most of the season.

And something is going to have to give at some point, no matter how much they tell us there isn’t a problem.

Maybe next time Gorden offers his opinion, the Broncos might want to listen before taking his name off the wall.

DON’T BLAME IT ON THE RULES, MITCH

I’m all for player welfare.

But how sad is it to see a game decided by a moment like Tom Chester’s high shot that helped Parramatta escape with a 32-30 win over the Cowboys?

Mitchell Moses was ankle-tapped, lost the ball and then complained of head contact.

Referee Todd Smith initially ruled a knock-on and Cowboys ball.

But once Moses challenged, it went upstairs and the Bunker had little choice but to rule the way it did.

Moses then defended his actions after the game, telling reporters: “I am just playing by the rules.”

Which he was.

But this is where senior players like Moses need to take some ownership of their actions.

Because if every player took Moses’ lead and stayed down to milk the penalty every time there was minimal contact with the head, imagine where rugby league will be in 20 years.

Or perhaps Moses could do what young Dragons backrower Dylan Egan did on Sunday when he was clipped high late in the win over Wests Tigers and just get up and get on with it.

Egan literally had blood coming from his nose, yet simply got back to his feet and played the ball.

The NRL is obliged to make player welfare paramount, and the Bunker can only enforce the rules.

But if players don’t want rugby league to eventually resemble touch football, they also have a responsibility to help set the benchmark for the future.

Because they’re not just playing for today.

They’re also helping shape the game for future generations.

PONGA CELEBRATES ‘HUMP DAY’ AT NEWCASTLE

It was fantastic to see the Knights secure a spot in the top eight with their win over the Titans.

But what on earth was Kalyn Ponga doing after Fletcher Hunt’s try?

We’ve seen some memorably post try celebrations over the years.

Players doing backflips, cartwheels, dancing, kissing, … even the occasional slap on the bum.

But Ponga jumping on Hunt and attempting to dry hump him might be a rugby league first.

Even Hunt got up looking like he wanted the Bunker to intervene.

SHARKS NEED NICHO TO TAKE CHARGE

A couple of weeks ago we were praising Nicho Hynes for his newfound confidence on his run to 32-straight conversions and saying he finally looked ready to take Cronulla to the next level this finals series.

Well, Nicho, the stage is well and truly yours now.

Because not only do back-to-back losses look like costing the Sharks a top four spot, but the shoulder injury to Braydon Trindall could prove catastrophic.

Cronulla started brilliantly against Canberra but the game turned on its head once Trindall left the field after scoring the opening try.

And it’s fair to say Nicho looked more than a little rattled at times.

But now he has to show he can take ownership of this team without his halves partner beside him.

As Cronulla’s million-dollar man, this is what he’s paid to do.

COUCHMAN GETS UP SMILING AFTER FALCON

How tough is Ryan Couchman?

To see the young Dragons lock get up smiling after copping the full brunt of a Jarome Luai downtown kick from close range was astonishing.

Surely that would have to hurt as much as getting punched in the face by Les Davidson back in the day.

Not that I would want to wear either.

But it was another moment that sums up perfectly what the Dragons are about playing under Dean Young who was also as tough as nails in his day.

It doesn’t matter what you throw at them, they just get up, dust themselves off, and get on with the job.

To the Tigers credit they fought back bravely after it looked at one point they were ready to throw the towel in.

But it’s still eight straight losses for Benji’s team who are in a world of trouble.

BENNETT HASN’T LOST HIS TOUCH

It’s hard to believe the Broncos decided Wayne Bennett was too old when they pushed him out the door at the end of 2018.

Eight years on the now 76-year-old is still sprinkling his magic dust on the eve of yet another finals series.

And if the Rabbitohs turn up with the energy and intent that they did against the Bulldogs when they take on the Warriors this week, you’d be mad to write them off.

Right across the park this was as good a performance as I’ve seen from Souths in years.

And what about the form of Matt Dufty, who finished with a game-high 274m from 25 carries?

At the start of the season, who could have imagined Dufty would upstage Jye Gray and grab hold and keep hold of the No1 jumper?

But Bennett not only gave Dufty a crack, he’s been proven right.

Dufty and David Fifita are two outstanding examples of how Bennett has this incredible knack of getting something out of players others might have given up on long ago.

FOZBALL GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE

I wrote last week that Kieran Foran needs to clean out the roster before Manly has any chance of leaving the Anthony Seibold era behind them.

The Sea Eagles’ pathetic 22-0 defeat at home against the Dolphins only reinforced that.

It was their fifth straight loss and the first time Manly has been kept scoreless at Brookvale since 1993.

That’s just an incredible statistic.

It wasn’t as if the Dolphins were shooting the lights out either.