Bias in officiating in 2016? No way

A second-half blitz with four tries in the final 20 minutes saw the Canberra Raiders prevail over the Canterbury Bulldogs on Sunday.

Yet it wasn’t any of the tries that got people talking after the game – it was the senior match review official in the Bunker.

How so? Blake Austin beat two tackles to break through the Bulldogs’ defence and accelerated for the goal-line. The cover tacklers were good enough to prevent him from streaking away under the posts, but they couldn’t stop him from getting to the line.

Or did they? Referee Ashley Klein, positioned behind the tackle, was obliged to give an on-field verdict on the try’s validity, and after considering the opinions of his fellow match officials he ruled a try, while requesting a review of the decision from the Bunker.

The review officials considered the evidence they had. After viewing the replays a decision was reached: Austin had grounded the ball just short of the line and then lost control. In the opinion of the officials they had sufficient evidence to overturn the live decision of try, so hit the red button and a ‘no try’ was the result.

There’s nothing that occurred in that sequence of events that we haven’t seen a dozen times this season. In this case, the system worked the way it is designed: the live decision was proffered, that decision was reviewed with all available camera angles, and a final decision was reached.

It doesn’t matter what any of the fans or viewers think of the decision (indeed, there have been arguments on either side) because it was so close I’m not even interested in whether it was wrong or right. I have to trust that the people with more information, more video and more close-ups than I do to come up with the right judgment.

Which brings us to the crux of the story – Luke Patten was the senior review official – yes, the former Bulldogs player.

Patten ruled against a Canberra try, who by coincidence happened to be playing against one of his former clubs.

That is not enough for social media.

Patten was pilloried by fans, claiming that he was biased in his decision because it went the way of the Bulldogs.

What an insult.

‘The General’ is one of a handful of senior review officials used in the Bunker. He didn’t just land there by falling off a tank in Normandy – he applied for an advertised position and was given the job ahead of other applicants. His experience as a former player and as a video referee over the previous three seasons got him across the line.

Seeing some of those comments about being biased demands a response, and since Luke can’t make public comments about the game then I’ll do it for him.

I worked with Luke during his first two years as a video referee in 2013 and 2014. While these days the review officials are in a bunker in Sydney’s Technology Park, for those years the video refs would travel with the on-field officials to all NRL games.

For games in North Queensland and New Zealand (as well as one-off destinations like Darwin and Perth) we were typically away for three days. We officials would spend most of that time together, in airport lounges, travelling, in coffee shops and – if I had the casting vote – bars after the game.

It gave me an opportunity to find out a bit about people I would perhaps never come across, such as Justin Morgan, Ben Galea, Steve Folkes and Luke Patten. From that group Morgan and Folkes now have coaching roles, while Gale and Patten work as review officials in the Bunker.

I can tell you that none of those men are biased towards any club or player when it comes to refereeing. They are all genuine league people, looking to do the best job they can, and in all the time I dealt with them I saw nothing but professionalism.

I was disappointed to see the reaction on Sunday. Sure, Luke Patten played for the Bulldogs and made his name there. He also played for Illawarra, St George-Illawarra and the Salford City Reds in the UK. He’s doesn’t pull on a club shirt when he walks into the Bunker. He walks in there knowing the responsibility of representing every match official in the game. It should not be underestimated.

I hope as a game we are mature enough to understand that match officials will simply get out there and do the job, regardless of their background or heritage. I feel we’ve taken steps that way with using the best referee for the May Anzac Test in Gerry Sutton, even thought we had an English referee out here relegated to controlling a Pacific Test.

Sutton (a New South Welshman) will control the first State of Origin game tonight. Ben Cummins, who learned his trade in the ACT, will assist. The touch judges, Jeff Younis and Nick Beashel, are from NSW, with the Bunker consisting of Bernard Sutton, Patten and Klein. Another Sydney boy is stand-by referee Gavin Badger.

In fact, you need to scroll down to the stand-by touch judge, Michael Wise, to find a Queenslander in the group.

In the modern era of professional refereeing it doesn’t matter one iota. They will get out there (and just like when I was officiating) in their minds the colours of the jerseys might as well be black and white as maroon and blue. It’s simply not a consideration when getting the job done comes first.

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As a footnote to the Austin ‘no try’, I want to give a rap to Bulldogs interchange forward Adam Elliot who pulled off the try-saving tackle. Sometimes the tough, good stuff needs to be acknowledged. Bravo!