- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Rabbitohs deserved to beat the Cowboys, however sitting at home watching the game I couldn’t help but feel some 50-50 calls went the way of the home team.
The refereeing standard this year has generally been very good.
Being a referee can be a very tough job. If they get every call correct in a match, they don’t get a mention. But if a referee makes a single bad call they can face endless criticism by fans and media alike.
The Cowboys had a try denied by the video referee after Gavin Cooper was ruled to have knocked on. The on-field referee gave it as no try, so video referee had to be certain Cooper didn’t knock on.
There was evidence Cooper may have touched the ball, so the video refs made the right call.
What I can’t understand is if the Cooper knock on was the reason the try was denied, why did the video refs waste time looking what happened after the Cooper knock on?
Antonio Wintersein pushed Inglis and the grounding was suspect, but in my opinion there was nothing wrong there. It was almost as if the video refs were looking for reason not give a try, rather than checking what the on-field referee was concerned about.
A couple of minutes before half time Brent Tate was denied a try by the video referees, after the on-field referee thought it was a try.
Furthermore, the on-field referee thought the Rabbitohs knocked on, as he called six to go for the Cowboys. Eventually the video refs decided Tate knocked on, meaning the Rabbitohs got possession.
The on-field referee was in an excellent position to see the try in question. The video referees can only overrule if they are certain.
Regardless of whether or not it was a try, it was a tough call.
Around the 50th minute, Ashton Sims was placed on report for knocking Beau Champion in the head with his legs.
Sims came in to finish a tackle as Champion was falling. He bumped Champion in the head, but rugby league is a contact sport and these things happen.
The video referee was asked to look at the incident by the on-field referee. My understanding is the video ref can only award a penalty for foul play if the incident is severe enough to go on report.
I wonder if the only reason Sims was placed on report was so the video referees could give a penalty?
The worst call of the night was when a Matt Bowen pass was called forward close to the Cowboys tryline.
Winterstein took the ball at pace and was steaming towards the line. He had an excellent opportunity to score. On replay the pass looked flat.
In fact, on replay there was no evidence to suggest the ball went forward.
The touch judge was likely the one who called the pass forward. In the heat of the game he had to make a call, knowing the ramifications if he missed a forward pass.
If the pass was forward and a try was scored, the video referee could not intervene. Maybe the NRL should change the rules so if a try is scored off a suspect pass the on-field referee can ask the video referee to check it.
If the video referee is certain it was forward then it should be no try. If the video ref isn’t certain is should be try, benefit of the doubt.
Overall, this was a quality game of football. The Cowboys looked as if they had a simple, high percentage game plan. Ultimately the Rabbitohs were too classy.
However it is disappointing after a game of football to be discussing refereeing decisions rather the actually game.
Refereeing in rugby league always comes down to a certain amount of discretion by the referees. There will always be 50-50 calls referees have to make. On-field referees don’t have luxury of being able to see slow motion replays.
The good news is that bad calls didn’t decide the outcome of this match.
But there is no doubt the Rabbitohs got the rub of the green.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.