MARK ‘SPUDD’ CARROLL: Harry Grant taking a dive against Penrith is not rugby league

I read with interest St George Illawarra coach Shane Flanagan’s comments on obstruction following a controversial Warriors try on Friday night.

After his side went down by four points, Flanno said: “What was an obstruction last week wasn’t one this week.

“I started playing footy when I was four years old (and) I don’t know the rules anymore.

“I dead-set don’t know the rules.”

Shane, you’re not the only one, old mate.

I’ve been involved in rugby league just as long and I can’t get a handle on it either.

The Harry Grant dive to earn the Storm a penalty and prevent Nathan Cleary from kicking a match-winning field goal on Thursday night was the best piece of acting since Robin Williams played Mrs Doubtfire.

Grant clearly ran into Moses Leota, not the other way around, yet the ref and bunker both ruled the Panthers prop initiated contact and acted as an obstruction.

Really?

It was like driving your car into a wall and blaming the wall for moving.

I really don’t know what Leota was supposed to do and I just wish we had a couple of old footballers at central control to deal with it.

Any ex-player with a feel for the game would have seen that con job from a mile.

My fear now, as we enter the pointy end of the season, is we’re going to see more milking as the stakes get higher.

We laugh at soccer players diving all over the place like a sniper’s taken them out, but no longer can rugby league take the moral high ground.

It’s embarrassing for a game that prides itself on toughness.

Can you imagine the likes of Ian Roberts, Gorden Tallis or Glenn Lazarus lying down or deliberately running into someone and flaying their arms around like a wounded seagull before hitting the deck?

So, what does the NRL do about it?

I’d like to see players charged by the match review committee for faking injury or diving.

Put it under contrary conduct and hit them with suspensions — not measly fines — and you’ll see an immediate reaction.

If a player knows he’s at risk of missing a game for clowning around and trying to con the ref, the theatrics will soon disappear.

Call it public shaming if you like, but I don’t care.

It’s a form of cheating and has to be eradicated from our game.

AND DON’T GET ME STARTED

The AFL should take the “Australian” out of its name if they’re going to continue to import big overseas acts to play on grand final day.

Snoop Dog -or Snoop Dogsh.t as I prefer to call him — is the latest in a long line of foreigners to perform on the AFL’s biggest day.

They’ve previously thrown millions of dollars at the likes of Robbie Williams, Katy Perry, Ed Meatloaf, Ed Sheeran and Kiss.

The artists can’t believe their luck.

They belt out (or even lip sync) three or four of their hit songs, pocket a fortune and race back to their private jets before the opening bounce.

Mr Dogg is the latest beneficiary of the AFL’s largesse.

His style of music is not my thing . . . or thang if I’m talking Dogg.

And I reckon the majority of the AFL’s audience will feel the same as they struggle to sing along to whatever he doof doofs on the day.

My major beef is this decision shows a lack of love and respect for Australian artists, who tend to play bit-part roles behind the big names.

Surely, we have enough talent in this country to use one of our own as the headline act.

The likes of AC/DC, Cold Chisel, Icehouse and the Hoodoo Gurus are still going strong if you want a taste of the 70s/80s.

Kylie Minogue is still spinning around, You Am I are still belting them out, Keith Urban wouldn’t mind a trip back home and the likes of the Hilltop Hoods, The Temper Trap and Gang of Youths are bands of more recent times who could handle top billing.

There are plenty of other Aussie bands and artists to call on but the AFL is fixated on international acts.

And if it thinks it’s got one over the NRL in booking Snoop Dogg, it’s barking up the wrong tree.

Dogg’s booking barely rated a mention among the rugby league community, with Peter V’landys refusing to give it any airtime.

We now wait to see what the NRL comes up with for its grand final entertainment.

It has previously gone down the international road, with mixed results.

We all remember Tina Turner, who was sensational, but then there was Billy Idol and his backfiring hovercraft.

I just hope we get behind our local artists and book a big-name Aussie artist to get the crowd rocking and rolling.

And if you need a support act, PVL, just give old Spudd a call.

You may have heard I play a mean bass guitar for an Aussie covers band — True Sports Rock Show — featuring league great Eric Grothe, former cricketers Richard Chee Quee, Gavin Robertson and the Hoodoo Gurus’ Rick Grossman.

We happen to be free on October 5 and live not far from Accor Stadium.

Make it happen, boss!