The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

Why the O'Sullivan try decision was correct (and how the referees boss got it wrong)

The NRL bunker was one of the big headlines again coming out of the Anzac Day clash between the Dragons and Roosters. (The Roar)
Roar Rookie
16th July, 2018
28

NRL fans have woken up on Monday morning to outrage and debate over Sunday night’s Sydney Roosters versus Gold Coast Titans match.

During the match, as our readers may know, Sean O’Sullivan scored an unusual try for the Roosters where he fumbled the ball before it ball ricocheted off the back of the goalpost towards the dead-ball line, with O’Sullivan collecting the ball to score.

Many fans on Facebook, Twitter and dedicated forums all over the internet used their platform to express their dissatisfaction with the video referee’s decision, and while browsing these discussions I decided to look at the rule for myself – and found the call was actually correct.

According to the NRL’s Laws and Interpretations article for 2018: “A player who has had possession or touches/touched the ball and knocks the ball forward must regain possession (catch, hold or grip) prior to the ball hitting the ground, another player, goal post or cross bar.

For the ball to be deemed grounded, pressure must be applied by the player’s fingers, hand, wrist, forearm or torso so as to create a reasonable influence on the plane of the ball including the spin, rotation, momentum or bounce.”

While some will argue that the ball hits the ground and the post, and therefore a knock-on is made by O’Sullivan which would constitute a no-try and Gold Coast restart, the ball only hits the post because it is knocked backwards, therefore making the ball still live. If the ball were to bounce off Jarrod Wallace after O’Sullivan knocked it backwards, this argument would not be had.

But for the referees boss to come out and state the Bunker’s decision was wrong – just as Bernard Sutton has done this afternoon – isn’t good enough because, ironically enough, it was a situation in which the correct call was made.

close