Roosters Upset At Webbs Kicking
Time

The length of time New Zealand Warriors rugby league fullback Brent Webb takes for his goalkicks is an "absolute joke", Sydney Roosters captain Brad Fittler said yesterday.

Webb earned the ire of the Roosters' home crowd at Aussie Stadium yesterday with the long preparation he takes before each kick at goal.

Booing and slow handclaps accompanied each kick.

There is no time limit on kicks and Warriors coach Daniel Anderson said after his team's 26-24 win yesterday he saw no problem.

"If they bring in a rule we will work around it, but at this stage there is no rule that says he can't take as much time as he wants."

The Roosters camp saw it as time wasting.

"It's an absolute joke really," Fittler said.

"I said to the ref why don't you call time off. He says 'I'll give him a minute' and he called him out ... and it took another minute and a half for him to kick it. So, you work it out."

Roosters coach Ricky Stuart said Webb was wasting time.

"There is no other reason for it. But he's not the only one who does it."

Stuart said the match was one of the slowest he had watched.

He said there were 69 sets of six compared to an average 85-84 per game in the National Rugby League.

"I just hope players aren't trying to slow play down or are instructed to slow play down.

"It's slowly creeping into our game that stoppages of play and time wasting is becoming more apparent. It's boring to watch ... it's mainly the unfit teams who do it."

Anderson thought it was a great game to watch. "I was rapt in the game of footy on the whole," he said.

NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley said the issue of slow kicks would be discussed by the NRL rules committee and would be on the agenda for the annual club conference.

"This year we have a couple of kickers that take a bit longer than usual. It's an issue that has raised comment during the year (but) it's not something that will necessarily change," he said last night.

Webb had the last laugh. The Roosters scored five tries to four but Webb's four conversions and a penalty was the difference between the two teams, with Chris Walker being able to convert only one of his team's tries, plus a penalty goal.