First of all, let me take you guys back in time to April. Remember April? Seems a long time ago now doesn’t it?
The weather was getting a little bit colder, last ditch trips to the beach were being made and the footy season was getting back into full swing.
The NRL season was heating up, the Titans and Dragons actually looked good, Canberra were still bad, upsets abounded, and the season was shaping up to be the tightest and most exciting yet.
It also brought with it a stark reminder to at least one NRL fan as to why his relationship with the NRL finished on such bad terms at the end of last season.
An admission; I am a Cowboys supporter and have been since 2004. I first made the switch from union to league when I saw a little genius by the name of Matthew ‘Mango’ Bowen leave everyone in the dust on his way to the tryline again and again.
I was hooked, have followed them ever since and was understandably filthy at the end of 2013 when my team was robbed again during the first week of the finals, largely thanks to a seven-tackle set.
I cursed, complained, then got over it as the summer came and the pain faded.
However on 18th April, 2014, a Round 7 game between the Manly Sea Eagles and the North Queensland Cowboys caused all that bad blood to resurface again.
It was a cool Friday night on the Central Coast and Manly were starting to look ominous and the Cowboys were starting the season slowly.
Understandably, Manly came into the game as favourites, but as the game wore on, hope emerged of a great upset.
Key Manly players were dropping like flies, and while the Manly players defended bravely, it didn’t look like enough to stop a Cowboys side that finally looked to have clicked. Fate had other ideas however as an obviously forward pass from Brett Stewart was let go, and a Foran try was awarded despite one of the most blatant obstruction cases I have ever seen.
It was an incident referred to in the media at the time as the ‘howler of the season’.
Again, I was filthy. Out came the expected curses, claims of anti-Queensland bias, blah blah blah. But in the end, Manly flew out of the Central Coast with two competition points and the Cowboys flew out with nothing but frustration and conspiracy theories.
Now you may be thinking: “Well that’s unfortunate Ben, but mate that’s footy, and it’s the past – move on”. And if you are thinking that, then you are 100 per cent correct.
Teams get crap calls go against them all the time, and the Cowboys are not the only team able to lay claim to having been ‘robbed’ throughout the season as a result of incorrect calls.
With the NRL being such a close competition, these calls can have an enormous influence on the season as a whole, something I noticed when reading this piece on final ladder positions.
They came up with a top eight looking like this:
1) Sea Eagles – 40pts
2) Rabbitohs – 38pts
3) Roosters – 32pts
4) Warriors – 32pts
5) Panthers – 32pts
6) Storm – 32pts
7) Eels – 32pts
8) Cowboys – 30pts
Now, while I didn’t agree with every result they predicted, my own ladder prediction efforts came up with a similar result. What caught my eye with the ladder were the teams in positions one and eight – the Sea Eagles and Cowboys.
Reading this list brought to me a great sense of just what could have been. Just by reversing the result of that one game back on a cool Friday night on the Central Coast, you have a very different ladder.
History has shown us that your chances of winning the competition outside the top four are almost non-existent at best. Using Fox’s ladder that would mean that the Cowboys are really just there to make up the numbers come finals time, having to win four away games against quality opposition to walk away as 2014 champions.
However due to the close nature of the competition, had the Cowboys been the team to walk away with the two points from the Central Coast, it would have rocketed them all the way up to third – right into contention for the 2014 premiership.
Manly would have dropped to second spot, giving the minor premiership to South Sydney for the first time since 1989 along with a nice $100,000 bonus. That’s quite a change.
Of course this is delving into ‘what if’ territory – always a tricky area. The point of this article is not so much to complain of the misfortunes of my own team. As I have earlier stated – every team has to deal with crap calls.
It is part of the drama of footy.
Rather the point of this article was instead to highlight just how costly these calls can be.
I don’t want this to sound like referee bashing – god knows there are enough people to do that for me. Referees have an incredibly tough job, and they are easy targets.
They are not often commended when they put in a good performance, but you can bet that they will be admonished when they put in a bad one. When it comes down to it, referees are human and are going to make mistakes.
I just wish that that element didn’t come to have such an enormous influence on the results of a season.
Terry
Guest
The cowboys can still win the comp. They have a good roster but need to stop buying into the media nonsense that all the world is against them.
Jimmy
Guest
It is the players team fault if they have a bad game, it is that that dictates the outcome. The Refs are not there to dictate the outcome of the game, we don't go to watch a game of League to see the Refs performance.
Jimmy
Guest
By your logic we are allowed to have a conspiracy theory due to the Refs allowing it to happen on shocking calls, if the shocking calls weren't there there wouldn't be any conspiracy theories. Just like the Cows to win by enough of a margin and eliminating the Refs ability to make a wrong call that makes the difference in the game. So Manly keep the 2 points and the conspiracy theory sticks!
Jimmy
Guest
This NFL bunker system has been discussed many times now and it is proven to work, why hasn't the NRL introduced it, what is stopping them?
Jimmy
Guest
Players can make all the mistakes they like, as it is their performance that dictates the outcomes of these games. It is not the referees performance to dictate the outcome of a game, if it was, what is the use of the players playing the game aka. JT frustrated! The players are not there so we can all see how good a referee is, this is not the reason we go to see a match. I could excuse an on field Ref to make big howlers, but when you have video Refs doing it, well, something is terribly wrong. The video Ref bunker system used in the NFL is the way to go, they are not at the ground they don't watch the game, they don't know the score, they just get fed snippets of footage to adjudicate on.
Jimmy
Guest
I did use a legal metaphor so I must be intelligent enough. See where your logic is wrong. Just digging yourself in to a hole now.
AR
Guest
Good article Ben. As long as we use human beings instead of robots as referees, there'll always be some risk of imperfect decisions. But there are 'sliding doors' moments in games, often manifested through the dreaded 'howler', and that's what your piece highlights. And sadly, its feels like a not-uncommon phenomenon for the Cowboys.
Train Without A Station
Guest
The referee didn't put the ball down over the line? How did the team get to a position where they could score, even with a dubious decision going there way? Don't try and use legal metaphors mate. You aren't intelligent enough to pull them off.
eagleJack
Guest
Not sure how your article makes you a Thurston hater?! Some comments even went as far as saying Thurston is in a one man team?! Come on! Each year the Cowboys look great on paper with 2 Australian front rowers leading the charge. But they constantly disappoint. Maybe it's a cultural thing. Thursto is a terrific player and it's only natural that due to his ability, and the Cowboys lack of results, he receives a portion of the blame.
Sam Atkinson
Roar Pro
way to many conspiracies by Queenslanders these days.
Steve
Guest
It is always the Ref? What about all those players that are being paid 100k+ who drop the ball? It's never the players fault they dropped the ball, ran into touch or just stuffed up. Nope it was the refs fault.
eagleJack
Guest
Johns, Fittler and co all noted tonight that the chicken wing needs to be eradicated from the game. It is a dangerous tactic designed to end careers. And Starling was charged for both incidents you mentioned. Try to keep up would you?
Jimmy
Guest
Sam, we already know your opinion as a Thurston hater, but you have to get behind the N(SW)RL in line, is the N(SW)RL dirty that Thurston left Sydney?
Jimmy
Guest
Yep, it was the video refs that made an error too, are they fatigued are they? It is failed logic to say that you didn't deserve to win, if you are in front and a video ref decision allows the opposition points to beat you from a wrong call you did deserve to win as you were in front? Your logic has failed and the court house is laughing at you.
Trenno
Guest
I haven't written off theirchances this year. The 'boys have to take it out of the refs hands. If they keep turning up for each other as they have been in the second half of the season they will give it a might shake. The Refs will make a 'blunder' in the finals which will cost the 'boys points, they just have to keep focused and not let it get in their head.
Squirrel
Guest
Year of the cowboys
Sam Atkinson
Roar Pro
I don't think you outlined enough referee blunders, you barely explained the "howler of the year" , I didnt really understand what you were saying, i see you have explained you're self multiple times so I'm not going to question it now. Every team has had their fair share of bad and lucky calls, but you have to move on. The ref didn't score 16 points in the final 15 minutes in round 7. http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/08/13/johnathan-thurston-premiership-bust/ I am all ready critical of the Cowboys, they finger point and blame everyone, they need to worry about footy instead go whinging their way to loses
Train Without A Station
Guest
Sigh. You have completely missed the point of his comment. How many 100% stupid decisions have players made in games throughout the season? I guarantee it's more than 1 or 2 a game, which is what he is saying it should be expected a referee, fatigued from running up and down the field all game. It's great that you could pick the right call sitting on your fat a$$ on the couch, but people make errors under fatigue and referees make a lot less errors under fatigue than players do. As he noted, if a referee's decisions costs you a game, you didn't deserve to win. If you did deserve to, you would not have missed tackles, made poor defensive reads and handling errors which allowed a single call to dictate a game. A 50/50 call not going your way isn't a referee's error, it's a contentious call that could equally be called either way and doesn't go your way,
Chris morrison
Guest
Fair enough comments by all, but do not forget that referees have robbed cowboys 2 years in a row in finals time. Don't worry about regular season, finals footy is a whole different competition where a loss can mean your season is immediately over due to 5-6 blokes doing a musk stick impersonation incompetence to get a decision right between them. If that was my team being robbed in 2 consecutive finals series I'd be filthy too. Manly fans are the biggest whining, whinging supporters in the comp. If the shoe was on the other foot you would never hear the end of it. Look at the game against Souths for example..... Matai gets twisted awkwardly onto his back, they cry and scream foul, someone even called for a 12 month ban but in the same game had a bloke who did one of the most dirtiest things ever seen on a football field where he fingered another mans eye deliberately and then proceeded to crusher tackle young Keary and not a peep about those incidents. The result two of Souths bloke charged, one missing 2 weeks. One players eye damaged so badly that he missed this weeks game against the broncos and may miss more. On manlys side no suspension for two foul incidents in the same game by the same player and Matai will line up this week not a problem in the world.
Cowboys
Guest
That last sentence needs to be the NRL's motto.