"What are we doing?”: Horo and Smith pan disruptor rule

Justin Horo and Jimmy Smith have criticised the NRL’s disruptor rule, believing it has gotten out of hand.

Throughout the round, the disruptor rule was prevalent, with multiple tries being disallowed by it.

For instance, in the Cowboys’ 35-31 win against the Broncos, the bunker overturned Brendan Piakura’s try after they deemed that Gehamat Shibasaki disrupted Tom Chester from catching the ball.

While in Sydney’s 34-22 victory over Cronulla in Perth, the bunker ruled that Robert Toia made contact with Sam Stonestreet while he attempted to catch the high ball, which resulted in his try being overturned.  

This prompted Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson to say that the rules have ‘gone too far’.

Speaking on the matter on SEN’s NRL Crunch Time, both Horo and Smith believed that the rule is too sympathetic towards whoever is catching.

Smith: “Did Tom Chester drop the ball because of Gehamat Shibasaki? No.”

“Did Sam Stonestreet drop the ball because of Robert Toia? No.”

Horo: “I think they're a factor.”

“I think they're a factor because they definitely felt the energy and pressure that a player was nearby.”

“My point is, I don't care about that."

“Tom Chester and (Sam) Stonestreet, with the little amount of pressure that they did get on them, they still got to come down with the ball.”

“Like, what are we doing?”

Smith: “You know what you're (the NRL) doing, you're excusing everyone for mistakes.”

“Oh, you made a mistake, but there might have been a mitigating circumstance.”

“You know how they go, ‘oh Dad, but the sunlight got in my eye’."

“It's like, well the sun has been there for millions of years, son. You've got to work out how to use that.”

Horo: “There are so many different things that can happen on a footy field that I'd wish that didn't happen.”

Horo: “I wish when I was defending a four-man that a player didn't run a lead line on me, and then they have a player at the back that distracted me.”

Smith: “I can’t agree more.”

Horo: “So therefore, I didn't get done on my inside shoulder.”

“I wish they just completely took block plays out of the game.”

Smith: “I wish everyone had to run at the same speed as me.”

Horo: What are we doing, Jimmy?

“This is where we're at, and now you're trying to make rules for a rule, and it's got out of hand.”

Listen to the full conversation below.