By STEVE MASCORD
ENGLISH club Warrington – the team with probably the three most volatile players in world Rugby League – have taken the unprecedented step of imposing fines on players who argue with referees.
‘The Wire’, who this season boast Les Boyd, Kevin Tamati and Alan Rathbone in their forward pack, recently introduced the disciplinary action against ‘talkers’ due to a spate of losses resulting from penalties for dissension.
“We were not at all pleased with the way things went … in previous matches,” Warring-ton coach Reg Bowden was quoted as saying in the Warrington Guardian.
“We have got to cut down on the penalty counts against us. We cannot succeed if we keep giving away penalties for arguing.”
The club decided any player found guilty of voicing his disapproval unnecessarily will be fined, and if they offend again they will be suspended from the following week’s selection.
Warrington have begun the season well, qualifying for the Lancashire Cup final, only to be beaten by star-studded Wigan.
The aggression of Boyd, Tamati and Rathbone in the forwards has combined well with a backline that features the class of Phil Blake, Andy Gregory and Brian Johnson. It seems a mere formality that this season will be a significant improvement on last season, when the club only avoided relegation by a hair’s breadth.
RUGBY LEAGUE WEEK November Special, 1985
