'Maybe you're my son': Allan Langer hilariously claims credit for Billy Walters stunning try
It was like a blast from the past with the Broncos not only dominating on the scoreboard, but shades of past legends.
After four weeks of mayhem, common sense has finally prevailed at NRL headquarters with video referees handed the power to determine the significance of block runners in try-scoring situations.
Obstruction rulings will no longer be a case of black and white for the men in the video referees box, who up until now were forced to deny tries where there was any contact initiated by a block runner into a defender.
It led to farcical situations where teams were being stripped of what appeared legitimate four-pointers where a defender was impeded well away from where the try was being scored – as was the case with the Cooper Cronk no-try in Melbourne’s round three win over Canterbury.
Effective from this weekend, if a defender is taken out but would not have been in a position to stop the try being scored, the try will still be awarded.
The move comes following a meeting on Tuesday involving referees boss Daniel Anderson and other members of the competition committee.
NRL general manager of football operations Nathan McGuirk said the rule change was not a green light for block runners to take out defenders.
“Having examined the application of the rule over the opening four rounds we believe an adjustment was necessary to provide a level of discretion for the video referee in the review process,” McGuirk said in a statement.
“… (it) ensures that tries that would have been fairly scored will be awarded.”
Players and coaches alike were left fuming over the weekend when a series of tries were rejected by the video referee, Wests Tigers skipper Robbie Farah claiming players were being encouraged to take a dive when hit by a decoy runner.
But the change is unlikely to provide a foolproof mechanism for awarding tries, with the same debate which marred last year’s campaign over the level of interference of a block runner sure to divide opinion.
Rival coaches Ivan Cleary (Penrith) and Gold Coast’s John Cartwright had different views on the no-try against Panthers No.6 on Sunday afternoon after Sika Manu ran into Titans back-rower Greg Bird in the lead-up.
Cleary, who is part of the competition committee, claimed defenders weren’t doing their job if they didn’t attempt to run into a decoy runner when a try was being scored under the system adopted over the opening month of the campaign.