The NRL match review committee has been working overtime in 2023.
That is the stark reality hanging over the NRL so far this season, and while on-field sin bins have caught the eye of plenty in the last few days following the rather unbelievable scenes during the Battle of Brookvale on Friday night between the Manly Sea Eagles and Melbourne Storm, Zero Tackle can reveal that match review committee charges have been almost doubled on the same point last year.
After seven rounds last year, the MRC had passed judgement over on-field incidents a total of 41 times which had then either been accepted with an early guilty plea, or found guilty at the judiciary.
This time around, after seven rounds, with the exact same amount of games played to the same point last year, the MRC have handed down a staggering 73 charges that have either been found guilty or had a player accept the early guilty plea.
| Round | 2023 charges | 2022 charges |
| 1 | 8 | 2 |
| 2 | 10 | 6 |
| 3 | 18 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 | 9 |
| 5 | 10 | 7 |
| 6 | 8 | 6 |
| 7 | 9 | 5 |
| Total | 73 | 41 |
| Average | 10.43 | 5.86 |
To put that unbelievable number in perspective, by the end of last year, a total of 159 charges had been handed down by the NRL judiciary. That was an average of 5.89 charges per round (it was 5.86 after seven rounds, so saw a marginal increase over the remaining 18 rounds). The 2022 season also saw only three separate rounds break the ten charge barrier.
In 2023, the first seven rounds have seen an average of 10.43 charges per round, an almost two-fold increase. Four of the first seven rounds have seen ten or more charges land successful from the MRC, with the record coming in Round 3 with a staggering 18.
Putting that into further perspective, 73 charges were only brought up by the playing group collectively during Round 12 last season.
At this pace, the 2023 competition will eclipse last year's total tally of charges during Round 16, and could be on track for a year where the MRC have to bring out the belt over 250 times, although things may slow down a touch during the bye rounds.
The dramatic uptick in charges has also (and obviously) led to fines and suspensions being radically increased. Between Rounds 1 and 7 last year, a grand total of $30,125 had been paid in fines. That is up to a remarkable $82,300 this time around at almost $12,000 per week. And while, yes, the NRL's judiciary system which increases the penalty on players the more charges they have on their record, the increase is incredibly sharp.
| Round | 2023 fines | 2022 fines |
| 1 | $10,400 | $2,000 |
| 2 | $11,800 | $4,500 |
| 3 | $20,300 | $4,500 |
| 4 | $10,850 | $7,000 |
| 5 | $7,000 | $5,500 |
| 6 | $13,150 | $5,625 |
| 7 | $8,800 | $1,000 |
| Total | $82,300 | $30,125 |
| Average | $11,757 | $4,304 |
2022 wound up with $164,000 worth of fines, so we are already halfway there with just seven rounds in the book for 2022.
In terms of suspensions, things have also gone north in a hurry. While some will argue with the grade of a handful of charges handed down, it doesn't overly impact the narrative and overall picture.
At this stage last year, the playing group had lost just a collective 24 matches to suspension. This time around, it's 50.
In just seven rounds, the NRL's playing group have given away twice as many games as last year at an average of over seven per week.
| Round | 2023 weeks suspended | 2022 weeks suspended |
| 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | 13 | 4 |
| 3 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | 8 | 5 |
| 6 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | 6 | 4 |
| Total | 50 | 24 |
| Average | 7.14 | 3.43 |
Sure, sin bins are also on the rise - 42 so far this year compared to 28 at the same point last year, but it's hardly a standalone metephoric rise when you consider the increase in conjunction with the other data across the number of charges, suspensions and dollars worth of fines so far in 2023.
Crackdown or not, it's incredibly difficult to believe the increased number of sin bins don't have anything to do with the unbelievable string of bad behaviour which is a weekly occurrence on-field.
There is little doubt that the ever-increasing pace of play, fatigue in players causing mistakes, and added depth needed in the player pool hasn't helped matters this year, but it's not as if inexperienced players are copping the brunt of the charges handed down by the MRC.
The bad behaviour on-field is widespread across the competition, and in a generation where the knowledge of the impact hip drops, high shots and other dangerous play has on players, it's an alarming trend for the NRL that almost all key metrics in assessing player behaviours worsened virtually two fold over the opening seven weeks of the 2023 season compared to the same time period last year.
Some will also try to argue that the MRC are handing out more charges this year, but in reality it doesn't feel like it. The rules for assessing a charge haven't changed, and every incident is being reviewed as it was last year.
The simple difference is that there are more chargeable offences thus far in 2023, and it's leading to more fines, more suspensions, and more sin bins as a result with the NRL desperately attempting to crack down on incidents which can endanger opposition players.
The only realistic question now is whether the collective playing group can get a grip, because what has been happening, both on the fines and suspension front, surely isn't sustainable long-term.