The Roar
The Roar

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Butt out Bunker, leave it to the on-field officials

(The Roar)
Roar Guru
2nd May, 2016
23

The implementation of the ‘Bunker’ was supposed to be a brainchild that would be close to perfect and eliminate a number of incorrect decisions. But all the NRL has done is create more controversy than ever.

Why do we have a situation whereby the Bunker is repeatedly intervening during matches and playing the role of judge, jury and executioner?

The inconsistency between the interpretations and rulings by the on-field officials and the man inside the Bunker is losing the NRL a lot of credibility.

Rugby league is so heavily scrutinised these days and even with the millions of dollars that the NRL has spent on technology they are still getting it wrong. Please, please do away with the Bunker video referee and go back to the good old days when there was just one Referee and two touch judges who had complete control of a match.

The penalty by the Bunker for a supposed shoulder charge by Jayson Bukuya on Ben Hunt in the final minutes of the Broncos versus Sharks match could have cost the Sharks victory.

The on-field officials hadn’t said anything, they were over-ruled once again by the man in the Bunker who was looking at a TV screen. And once again he got it wrong.

What will it take for the NRL to understand that in their desire for perfection they are actually ruining the game and the great spectacle that it should be.

The NRL would be well advised to take a close look at how the AFL and Super Rugby operate and take a leaf out of their books. As it stands the game is lagging behind its domestic rivals.

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