Storm eye clarity from refs on ‘six again’

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy says he will speak to referees boss Bernard Sutton this week to clarify how Storm are giving away ruck infringements that appear no different to others that go unchecked.

In Saturday night’s victory over Newcastle on the Central Coast, Storm gave away five set restarts and received just one.

After three weeks of the new rule under one referee, Bellamy says he is yet to strike a balance between the structure that Storm is famous for and the new style of football that is emerging.

It was hoped that the addition of the six-again call for ruck infringements instead of a penalty would speed the game up and eliminate the wrestle – a tactic Storm has been credited for introducing to the NRL.

And while Melbourne have lost just one match this season, Bellamy said the rule changes are taking longer to adapt to than he would like.

“We were probably a little bit too structured for the way I think you need to play footy under these new interpretations,” he said following the 26-12 win.

“We’re not going to throw that right out the window but we need to find a balance.

“Tonight we were penalised for six agains six times and we only got the one.

“I just don’t know what the difference is there.

“That’s one thing that we’re struggling with a bit at the moment, knowing what we’re doing wrong to get those six agains against us.

“We’ve had a few without a doubt, but I didn’t see a whole heap of difference tonight.”

NRL teams are still training in bubbles, which makes it difficult for clubs to liaise with referees who would usually come to sessions to discuss interpretations.

Bellamy said he would be reaching out to Sutton this week to get clarity over what Storm were doing wrong in the ruck.

“I’ll have to talk to Bernard this week,” he said.

“That’s one thing that is causing me a little bit of angst and sometimes the referee is doing it tough too, he calls a six again but doesn’t say what for.

“I think we need to know that so we can improve in those areas because we’re getting way too many of those six agains against us, and that’s one thing that we’ll need to be better at, just knowing exactly what they are.

“I need to find out.”

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