Canterbury Bulldogs coach Des Hasler has accepted the $10,000 fine and breach notice issued to him by the NRL for comments made over the weekend regarding refereeing in the League, channeling Harry Potter in the process.
Hasler referred to referees as ‘Voldemorts’ in a criticism of the new NRL rule preventing officials, coaches and players from discussing referees.
Drawing comparisons with J.K Rowling’s terrifying wizard villain, Hasler said “It’s about understanding the policy of ‘he whose name you cannot mention’ so let’s call him Voldemort.”
“Paragraph 31 sub clause two says that comment on means you can’t say anything nice about them, you can’t say anything positive about them, you can’t say anything about the Voldemorts. That is what they think is pragmatic and reasonable. If you are an advocate for free speech then it’s not too good.
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Hasler was issued a $10,000 suspended fine after he called for referees to publicly explain their decisions in the wake of Canterbury’s Round 1 loss to Penrith.
The rule preventing players and officials from speaking publicly about refereeing decisions was announced in December. Hasler is the first to fall foul of the rule.
[via AAP]
