NRL head of football competitions Graham Annesley has admitted that the Dragons should have been awarded a try in Sunday’s loss to Parramatta after the bunker incorrectly decided that Jacob Liddle had knocked on in a tackle with Clint Gutherson.
It was ruled a loose carry at the time, but many thought that Gutherson stripped the ball, a conclusion that Annesley later agreed with.
“When you look at this closely, Gutherson is trying to make a tackle, there’s no question about that,” he told his regular Monday press conference.
“Clint comes across the top and throws his arm across the top of the ball and the other arm around the body.
“But at this point he finds his hand on top of the ball and I think there’s only two outcomes here, either he’s about to break free from this tackle and score or Clint has the opportunity to try and dispossess him.
“At this point here you can see the fingers curl up on top of the ball and there is a raking motion that dislodges the ball.
“The action of Gutherson raking the ball and dispossessing Liddle means the tackle count should have restarted and that should have been a try.”
He also declared that Jack Wighton should have been called for a forward pass that led to a crucial try for Seb Kris in the Raiders’ 22-18 victory over the Wests Tigers.
“As Jack Wighton passes this ball, if you look at the motion of the hands it appears to be forward,” he said.
“You can see the touch judge at the bottom of the screen who is pretty much in line with this, and also after Jack Wighton passes the ball he gets knocked over which always makes things look worse after a ball is passed.
“The ball hits the ground and bounces which makes the whole thing look a bit of a mess to be honest, but the only reason it will be an issue is if the ball is passed forward out of the hand and is passed directly forward.
“Looking at this one with the camera on the halfway line, I don’t think you can reach much other conclusion than this was a forward pass.”
In a third instance or bungled refereeing, Annesley said referee Grant Atkins wrongly pinged Dolphins prop Herman Ese’ese for holding a Newcastle player at a scrum late in the match, won 30-28 by the Knights.
“Given where the ball goes and the fact no one is prevented from making that tackle and the defensive line would have time to reset, I think that’s a very harsh penalty,” Annesley said.
Burgess set for head coach role
Sam Burgess could be set for Super League with Warrington deep in discussions to make the English rugby league legend their coach for next season.
The perennial underachievers of English footy had prerviosuly offered the job to former Titans boss Justin Holbrook, but were knocked back as he chose instead to take up an assistant’s role to Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters.
Burgess is currently an assistant at South Sydney, where he spent his entire career in Australia, and has only ever coach on his own in bush footy with the Orana Valley Axemen.
Souths are already preparing for life after Sam and have privately accepted that he will leave.
Horsburgh looks to extend
Canberra will offer 2023 breakout star Corey Horsburgh a hefty extension, with the hard-running forward set to be extended through to 2027.
His contract currently expires in 2024 with an option for 2025, but the Raiders are looking to tie him down long-term after Horsburgh bolted into rep conversations with some stellar early season form.
The 25-year-old has been with Canberra since 2018 and debuted in 2019, and save for two matches on loan to Canterbury in the Covid bubble of 2021, has been a stalwart for the Green Machine across nearly 100 games.
An extension would take him to close to his 30th birthday, a strong reward for good form and breaking into the Queensland squad in 2023.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Turbo payout revealed
The huge payout that Manly received due to Tom Trbojevic’s injury on rep duty for New South Wales has been revealed, with the Sea Eagles given $300,000 as compensation.
Turbo went down early in Game 2 of Origin and tore his pec muscle, ruling him out for the rest of the year – at least, if Manly do not make the Finals. Should they somehow sneak into the top eight, it is thought that Trbojevic would be ready for week one.
As he was injured while playing for NSW, Manly were eligible for compensation and salary cap relief to sign another player.
Coach Anthony Seibold was unable to land a suitable replacement, though it was reported that he had a crack at Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, with the Kiwi rugby union player set to return to rugby league next year with the Warriors.
Souths also received $100,000 on the same compensation scheme for an injury suffered by Latrell Mitchell in Blues camp. The fullback pulled up with a calf problem ahead of Game 1 and subsequently missed ten weeks of football, returning two weeks ago for the Bunnies’ win over the Tigers in Tamworth.
with AAP
langparker
Roar Rookie
It was a bit tongue in cheek Mushi, back in the day wouldn’t have liked my boss doing an Annesley if we missed an account & he threw me under the bus then cut me out of the bonus pool. Maybe in the broadcast rights deal, stipulate they can’t show a slo-mo or more than one replay on the night.
matth
Roar Guru
Honestly none of it makes sense. I think we now know who Bennett blames, with Herman out of the 17 this week
mushi
Roar Guru
As much as it benefits the roosters for a Parramatta loss I'm 60/40 on it, I think it's a strip but I can be convinced it was locking up the ball too.
mushi
Roar Guru
Do they get bonuses for the right calls too, or is it just stick and no carrot?
mushi
Roar Guru
When the NBA instituted this one of the players said something similar. Fans of every major sport on the planet have the same whine, it's just the volume that varies. There's going to be good and moderately good ones, but we're also wedded to the ones we've got as the nrl slashed their budget.
Albo
Roar Rookie
They weren't game to call the correct decision here, for fear of opening a can of worms when next weeks matches throw up similar incidents to be adjudicated upon. Best they call them all "loose carries" ! :silly:
jimmmy
Roar Rookie
I can live with every single Ref ,touchie, error , even ones like the blatant Wighton forward pass. They have happened since I started watching the game in 65. But I can’t handle the bunker ones. The Gutho one was an obvious strip on first look. How can anyone get that wrong with 38 TVs 16 replays and 6 eye balls. Wrong bunker calls happen way too often. Here’s how it goes . Bunker makes a call. Everyone e watching blows up because they are obviously wrong. On Monday Annerserley admits they got it wrong. Ref’s get some leeway from me . The bunker gets none. Boot them.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
That explanation ‘ didn’t have immediate impact on the play’ didn’t make any sense to me, considering the tries that are called back from ‘obstructing’ defenders who were clearly not going to impact the scoring of that try.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
I truly don't understand how the Bunker can make the sorts of errors it does. The problem is, Annesley and co are happy to admit they make these sorts of mistakes, but have not once explained what they're doing to fix it. That said, I think if looked at all the close calls the Bunker's got right, (eg ball dropped over the line but awarded a try), versus the decisions the Bunker's clearly got wrong, there's a very strong case to keep it because it does make a positive difference
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
You've got to be super fit for a start, have a voice like a foghorn, be able to make split second decisions that are 100% correct against the Laws of the Game, have a hide like a buffalo to wear all the verbal and (at times) physical abuse..... Then come to work on Monday to have your boss second guess your decisions and publicly air your apparent mistakes in public. The refs should be on $500k at least
andrew
Roar Rookie
Get rid of the bunker while you're at it G.
matth
Roar Guru
Why would anyone ever decide on a career as a referee in the current climate?
langparker
Roar Rookie
Here’s a thought on the refereeing which seems to be a controversial topic in the media every week. Unless they make a monumental blunder that costs a club a premiership, which would be hard to prove, what if when Annesley admits the officials made a glaring error they get docked a % of their match fee which increases exponentially if they’re serial offenders. Happens with fines at the judiciary & slow over rates in cricket but only to players. Seems they never get sacked no matter what happens, nothing like a hit to the wallet to sharpen the mind. Should be harsher on the bunker errors because they have the benefits of hindsight, unlike the instantaneous decisions required of refs.
BigGordon
Roar Rookie
Truly hate Annersley fronting up on a Monday after having at least 24 hours to view footage to throw his own blokes under a bus. They made subjective calls based on what they saw at the time. Sure they may have made mistakes but that's the nature of anything that involves human beings and decision making. I'd love to be in charge of the NRL for a day, just to sack Annesley. Well and truly past his use by date.
andrew
Roar Rookie
The endless slow motion replays are a blight on the game not to mention dumb captain's challenges. I thought PVL said he was going to speed up the game. The way the game is going it's going to end up like Grid Iron in that the game will go for 4 hours. What a joke these stupid new rules are TG.
matth
Roar Guru
So the Dolphins were robbed of the opportunity to attack for a set of six from 10 meters out with 2 minutes to go. Sigh.
Tom G
Roar Rookie
Given that we now have endless on field reviews, captain’s challenge as legitimate process, why not extend it through until Monday?? It could be like a blooper reel
G Len N
Roar Rookie
So true. “Jobs for the boys” type feeling.
KenW
Roar Rookie
No idea if he'll be any good but isn't that pretty much the standard pathway these days?
Nat
Roar Guru
Good on you Corey. His game has gone up 3 levels in 2 years. As Billy loves to say ”he keeps his feet moving” and finds himself in good positions in attack and defence.