NRL referees boss Tony Archer admits the on-field officials should have blown fulltime before Melbourne scored their dramatic winning try against St George Illawarra on Monday.
The Dragons were left fuming after winger Young Tonumaipea dived over in the corner to score a try and seal a come-from-behind 28-24 victory at AAMI Park, claiming the Storm hadn’t played the ball before the siren sounded and the game should have concluded.
Archer agreed Matt Cecchin should have called time, but said he was only able to come to that conclusion after watching several freeze-frame shots of the incident.
“The siren and the play the ball were all but simultaneous,” Archer said.
“But, technically, the siren sounded a split second before the Melbourne player heeled the ball.
“So, in that sense, the referees’ call was wrong and the final play should not have proceeded.
“We were only able to work this out by going through the final moments of the game, frame by frame, so you can appreciate how difficult it would be for a referee to make a call with so much to consider with that degree of accuracy out in the middle.”
Archer said Cecchin and assistant referee Gavin Atkins wouldn’t be stood down from this weekend’s fixtures and that the NRL would implement plans to ensure the mistake did not happen again.
“We are working on mechanisms for the time keeper and the video ref to count down the time to alleviate the problem in the future,” he said.
“We’re looking to implement it as soon as possible. I am disappointed we got it wrong.
“But we are working hard to improve our performances and there is a number of factors that go into the determination of all matches.
“I have spoken to Matt, we are professional referees and we take our craft very seriously.”
Furious Dragons coach Steve Price said earlier on Tuesday he knew the decision was wrong and his players were devastated to miss the chance to end their 15-year losing run in Melbourne in such controversial circumstances.
“I’ve watched it a number of times after the game and my coaching staff and my players feel the ball hadn’t been played when the siren had blown. It’s a hard one to take.
“It’s hard to cop at the moment, it was a great game of football and both teams threw everything at each other. We’re hurting.”
Archer said he’d contacted Price and apologised for the error and said that despite his frustrations, the Dragons’ mentor understood the difficulty of making the decision.
“I have spoke to Steve Price and indicated that we got the decision wrong and that it was a very difficult decision in live time,” he said.
“He understood the enormity of the decision and where I was coming from.”
The Tonumaipea try wasn’t the only controversial incident in the game with a Trent Merrin four-pointer awarded despite Josh Dugan appearing to be in an offside position in the build up.
However, Archer said he had no problem with the try being awarded.
“I was comfortable with the process,” he said.
“The touch judge called the chasers onside. The video referees ruled that as the ball was kicked, Dugan’s foot was above the line.
“I am comfortable that there was insufficient evidence to overturn the decision.”
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Who can forget Pepper Gomez -- the man with the cast iron stomach -- and his challenge to Killer Kowalski to jump on his stomach? At that time, Killer was a baddie, and he climbed up a ladder and jumped straight onto Pepper's throat. Pepper appeared next week with a bandage round his neck and a hoarse voice threatening to get Kowalski. Quite a few years ago, Gonads, I decided to treat Rugby League exactly as World Championship Wrestling, or the Roller Game. The silly stories in the press (which has links to the broadcasting station) ensure a state of frenzy in the fans, who think this stuff is actually news!
Gonads At Large
Guest
Superstar - you are at the top of your game. Your interpretation is spot on.
Gonads At Large
Guest
That's cause there's not many of you, especially since all that despicable salary cap cheating went on. Not to mention the boring wrestling, etc.
Gonads At Large
Guest
Well, not everyone, because ref boss Tony Archer apologised for refereeing error. You should apply for Tony's job. I will support you.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Gonads - The RULE is that the game isn't over until the ref blows his whistle. Everyone knew that.
Gonads At Large
Guest
Telling the truth is a "horrendously misguided thing to say"?
Gonads At Large
Guest
When the NRL let massive gambling into the game, the baggage that came with it was suspicion. There's been scandals in every part of the game since. The Man of Match awards on Channel 9 are alleged to have been fixed. Dally M points were leaked and bet on. Players were charged and one convicted for fixing a game. Massive betting on matches just before a vital player is a late withdrawal from the team. End-of-season matches with teams out of contention were fixed. The well has been poisoned....
Gonads At Large
Guest
Yes, but his foot only touched the sideline by 1 mm. Pretend that's a try. The pass was only an inch forward. TRY! Rules are rules. Don't bend them.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Are we so pedantic that we can't forgive a 'mistake' made when the ref has to synchronise the siren and the exact moment the ball touches the players foot. By the time the ref blew the whistle the ball would have cleared the ruck and everyone would be whinging that he called time too soon and denied us an exciting finish. The mock outrage associated with this is pathetic. The timekeeper is a bloke in the grandstand with stopwatch. Do you think he stops and re-starts the clock within 0.6 of a second every time play is waved off or on? Rugby league is developing the most negative whinging culture. We're provided a game with an absolute block busting finish with a try after the siren to win the game and all anyone can talk about is a 0.6 second decision. Price and Doust's team let in 18 points in the last 10 mins or so but it's not their fault. "Let's call in the lawyers to get back the 2 points our team threw away." By the way the law of the game don't say anything about the ball having to touch someone's foot to be 'in play'.
Gonads At Large
Guest
Professor - you're making NRL sound more like World Championship Wrestling! Oh my god I pine for the days of Skull Murphy and Pepper Gomez.
The Barry
Roar Guru
When you hear the full interview with Archer the tone wasn't "the refs got it wrong" it was "when you slow it down and freeze frame it, technically the siren went 0.6 seconds before the ball touched the foot." There's a subtle but big difference
I'mastormtrooper2
Guest
Like all teams, if you win you get 2 points ie., 4 games x 2 = 8 ... What that means when the boys are playing at 100% is anyone's guess or gamble ... They can only go up or down from here ... I'm no different to you Muzz, I just hope my team win and would like them to be in the top 8 after round 26.
belrose eagle
Guest
Fact if this happened to manly I really would have no problem with it .well not that we lost just wouldn't be blaming the ref I don't think it was even a mistake the siren went as the ball was being played the ball is now in play the ref blows his whistle as fast as possible the balls in play and it finished when the try was scored unless the ref was staring at the clock waiting to call time off he couldn't have done any different or was he just suppose to stop mid pass and say nope game over the siren went and I meant to blow my whistle in unison with it I cannot believe the NRL didn't back him and say nope the games not over till the guy with the whistle sez so the siren is just an aid I don't expect perfect just even and fair as much as humanly possible complaining about a non issue like this just clouds the real ones IMO
belrose eagle
Guest
This whole thing is so stupid the game wasn't over simple the game is over when the ref blows his whistle not when a siren goes off and even if it was the ball was played it was literally milliseconds after the siren nobody could react that fast so I don't know what the ref could so he has to hear it put the whistle in his mouth and blow which takes longer to do and I find it hilarious that is the dragons complaining when they use to have a well known fan called the phantom who would yell a fake siren that sounded the exact same so the opposing team would stop playing I'm pretty sure it even worked once or twice and they won from it seems a bit like karma to me
paul crann
Guest
Funny I thought for a moment Muzz's last line read "the field is covered in lie's." When I looked again I realised the word was lines. Of course, silly me, the field is covered in lines, very fine lines indeed.
Muzz
Guest
Thanks Troops One more thing - I can't believe you guys are on 8 points.You have been playing horribly (that excludes the last 20 minutes of Mondays game)
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Gonads at large -- pass lightly forward -- of course it's good enough. Pass very forward, keep playing. Player just lost control of the ball? Try! Player almost put the ball on the ground in the play-the-ball, and almost used his foot to roll it back -- play on. Pack a scrum that isn't a scrum, feed the ball straight into your own team -- no worries, no penalties. You've got the idea! Rules are there as a rough guideline to keep the "spectacle" going, not for serious enforcing.
I'mastormtrooper2
Guest
Love your sensibility and humor Muzzy ... You're right of course, no question or question marks about that !!! :-D :-D :-D
Slane
Guest
Except the ref thought the ball was played slightly before when the siren sounded. Why is this so hard to understand? He was wrong when making a split second call, but he was wrong about many other calls during the game also. Deal with it.
Muzz
Guest
There were question marks all over that and so many other games and we have only had 6 rounds.It really isn't good enough Troops and yet they get to go out and do it again next weekend.Drop them to NSW cup if they don't perform,Simple!!!! The game was OVER bro,the points should be theirs BUT the NRL will have to deal with all the betting agencies and what a mess that would be. On the Dugan try - Why can't they draw a parallel line on the screen when looking at it upstairs?The field is covered in lines.