LeagueNews.co | Jason Patrick
Former NRL referee Gavin Badger has criticized the proposal of reintroducing a five-minute sin bin in the 2024 season.
The NRL has asked for feedback on the sin bin rule, which was scrapped in 1991 due to inconsistent implementation.
Badger believes that teams would quickly learn to exploit the rule change if it were to be reintroduced.
He stated, "I know that teams will manipulate that as much as they can." Badger also highlighted that being a player down for five minutes is only a minor disadvantage in the fast-paced current game.
He explained, "In the current game, five minutes is two sets, for the benefit you can get out of a professional foul, I don't think it's a big enough deterrent." Badger emphasized that teams often work on defending with 12 players and would willingly give up a try-scoring situation if it means saving their team a try.
He drew a parallel to the introduction of the "six again" rule, where teams were defending in their own territory.