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I can’t imagine what goes through the mind of a video referee when faced with a crucial decision. I would have thought they would just observe the vision and adjudicate on the evidence before them with logic and common sense.
Sadly, it appears they they become so utterly confused and bewildered by a complicated and overstated set of guidelines and rules that, in the end, they disappoint everyone.
Awarding the Nene Macdonald try to the Dragons on Anzac Day felt like the last straw for so many fans. Nene dropped the ball. He knew he dropped the ball and we all saw him drop the ball. I had a few quid on the game and needed a few more points scored.
When the dynamic winger launched into the air I was ecstatic, knowing that one more try would be enough for me to cash in. But I was left disappointed after seeing the first replay. Then another and another and the walls started to close in.
Surely they could not find a way to award that? But, they did and apologised for it soon after.
Rather than vitriol, abuse of officials or a complete loss of faith in the game itself, the reaction to the incident and many others that have preceded it, should be one of repair.
The game cannot go on with comical farces such as the one we saw in the Anzac Day showpiece being beamed around the world. The NRL needs to address the personnel and process issues and realise that putting an esteemed ex-player in the box doesn’t constitute an intelligent assessment of football analysis.
The majority of the football public adjudicate far more logically and sensibly on decisions such as the one we saw on Wednesday. Most don’t possess a certificate, qualification or first-grade experience. What they do possess is common sense.
Rather than increasingly complicating interpretations around block runners, contested bombs and the grounding of the ball the NRL might be far better off simplifying the process.
Show one replay from each available angle at three-quarter speed. No freeze frames, no ‘rock and rolling’. Just use the available footage, slowed slightly for clarity and a monkey could make decisions better than those we saw on Anzac Day.
The Roosters might feel aggrieved, yet, the game was done and dusted by that point. It was a polished performance from the Dragons and another which added weight to the growing belief that they are the real deal this year.
The Dragons’ forwards are hunting as a pack and Tariq Sims, Jack De Belin and Tyson Frizell could all be wearing state of origin jumpers in a few months time.
(Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
With their halves in complete control and Cooper Cronk executing a game plan that someone must have wiped off the whiteboard before the other Roosters players had been given the chance to see it, there was a gulf between the two teams.
Interestingly, neither team is what most people thought they would be this year. Not many tipsters would have slated the Roosters as inconsistent, disorganised and susceptible through the middle and few could have predicted how quickly Paul McGregor would have his young Dragons successfully playing a more attacking brand of football.
Just a few hours later, the Melbourne Storm made a statement of power, speed and precision and the Warriors reminded every one of the brittle nature of their make-up.
The men from across the ditch, as well as they have been travelling in the first six weeks of the competition, always seem one bad defeat away from a return poor form and an erosion of confidence.
It is a fragility Stephen Kearney must continue to address and one that, if conquered, will deliver a premiership to Auckland at some point.
However, after Wednesday night, that premiership might be at least another season away.
The weekday matches were completed with the Knights moving into sixth with a win against the media-plagued Eagles. No matter whose side you might be on in terms of the players versus Jackson Hastings, the reality is the Manly brand is the real loser and the situation is untenable.
In the match at Pepper Stadium things got worse for the Bulldogs as they let an early lead slip and were overrun in the second 40. With such history around the occasion, there is always emotion and passion in every encounter. With three matches to come over the course of the weekend, we can expect more of the same as the Anzac round comes to a close.