One of the worst officiating moments of the year has brought the debate back on forward passes, with two egregious decisions in Brisbane’s Preliminary Final win over the Warriors.
Reece Walsh had poked his nose through the Kiwi line and looked to find his winger, Selwyn Cobbo, but passed the ball yards forward.
Nothing was called by referee Gerard Sutton or his touch judges, and as if to compound the error, a further pass in the move from Cobbo to Jordan Riki also looked dubious.
The Bunker is unable to rule on forward passes, even though in this case, it was glaringly obvious what had occurred.
Warriors coach Andrew Webster was asked about the decision, and while he refused to be drawn into the debate on technology or rule changes, he remained flabbergasted by the call itself, though he stopped short of saying had a bearing on the result.
“The forward pass was so wrong it wasn’t funny,” he said.
“But they made a line break, we allowed the line break and the forward pass comes off the back of hat. We weren’t defending well during that period.
“The forward pass is wrong but we’re not crying over that, it certainly didn’t cost us the game.
“The thing for me on the referees and decision this year, is that we have to give ourselves opportunities to win and we’ve got to take the referees out of it.
“Those things are hard. I know the boys are trying hard and get frustrated by decisions, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to take some ownership of the way that we could have done things better.
“I’m going to stay solid by that, it’s been our motto all year.”
Other commentators were less kind to the officials, with Michael Ennis suggesting that the speed of Walsh might have done for the linesman.
“This might sound ridiculous,” said the summariser. “But this is the speed of Reece Walsh that the actual touch judge couldn’t keep up with him, this was two metres forward, blatantly forward.
“The touch judge fell two or three metres off the pace, he just couldn’t keep himself in line with Walsh and it’s an absolute howler.
“I know we can’t use the Bunker but there’s three officials there and the ball blatantly goes forward.”
Over on 9, Cameron Smith agreed.
“The touchie was about 15 metres behind him, he couldn’t keep up,” said the Queensland legend.
“That’s gone about three metres forward, that’s an absolute shocker but anyway, you cannot review forward passes, you cannot take that back.”
wilbas
Roar Rookie
By the trend of the game the Broncos were making too much yardage and unloading at will but the Warriors just at that moment were thrown the kitchen sink and just needed fortune to swing a complete different complexion on the game...That try killed all hope.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
The weight of the game and momentum changed on that play...Warriors were knuckling it out at that point and that try broke the back.. I must say Warriors played into Bronco's hands by one out play and not unleashing Kiwi style football on them..The Warriors wanted to play percentage football which was a mistake...Their defence had a holiday and another thing is Payne HASS has to be dropped and tackling high and looking to delay the play the ball is the wrong tactic...He just stole metres and caused all of the 13 Warrior players to work overtime in defense...Be prepare to sacrifice a quick play the ball by tackling him low..and the other Blonde forward just kept unloading and making huge yardage..These type of players like Corey Parker use to eat NSW because they were not prepard to drop him with a low tackle...These players that bustle forward and can unload have to be dealt with by the defense swallowing their medicine and allowing a quicker play the ball by low tackle and smother over the top...It is better then them rumbling 10 metres up field and when the defense is getting back the ten he unloads and you are in chaos.
wilbas
Roar Rookie
The rule was you had to pass with a back motion of the hands ...if momentum plays a part it is acceptable if a player passes on the 20 metre line and the team mate catches it 2 metres in front of the line...THAT has always been the rule and the only reason why replays are not used for forward passes...BUT..if the ball makes contact with the ground it could be called a knock on...Ponga threw one in the state of origin two series back and they would not look at it..
wilbas
Roar Rookie
This home game advantage has got to go...We use to play all finals on neutral grounds but that was a crowd decision.
Nat
Roar Guru
Still making up your little "F-ing" stories there little buddy? My man, as they say ignorance is bliss and for that reason you will never be embarrassed.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Well I’m glad to hear that you’re only in a state of confusion. Not too offended. As I read a part of your ‘list’ of f’you’s , f’ing this & f’ing you this or that yesterday. After a few that were much the same thing , it wasn’t worth reading any more of your comments. I’m happy to say that I’d be embarrassed, if I dropped to that level. That , you reserved for another contributor. So stay Happy. :thumbup:
Nat
Roar Guru
Offended? Wow, no. Bemused by you - often. I get you don't know the rules of the game but you continually ask the refs and everyone just to see things your way. This right here champ, just another example.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
They don’t make sense to you yet evidently , you feel so offended by them? Perhaps if you understood more , you wouldn’t be so unnecessarily offended? I’m sorry that you are that way . If you look at the likes for the original comment. Those people had no such problem with understanding.
Nat
Roar Guru
No it really doesn't. If the rules were written differently some of your stories might make sense.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Yea, I was referring to Andrew Webster when I said ‘He’. He has been a great breathe of fresh air this season. Your point is valid though, too often in a one-sided game like this, one wrong call gets all blown up like it actually impacted the result. I recall Chiefs fans doing this in SR this year against the Crusaders.
sheek
Roar Guru
Paulo, No. Guilty, your honour. Only read the banner-line. But I believe it was the coach who made those comments. Anyway, good to see there are sensible folk around...
Panthers
Roar Rookie
It would all depend on how the referee sees it. If the rules were written differently, a Hail Mary style pass down the field from someone like Walsh , would be acceptable.
Nat
Roar Guru
Sure, if the rules were written differently.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
God no. Remember how you used to have to force the ball for a try? Bunker stopped that. Remember how if you went to a decoy runner, it was a bad read? Bunker stopped that. Within five minutes, they'd be using the lines and ground to judge (incorrectly) forwardness.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Did you read the article or hear the coach comments? He literally says the forward pass wasn’t an issue, as their defence wasn’t good enough.
sheek
Roar Guru
Once the defence has been breached, complaining about a forward pass becomes a first world problem. Of course, a forward pass is illegal, but we can quibble about the margin until the cows come home. Or peace breaks out in the Middle East. How about the defending team accept responsibility for poor defence. That would be novel.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Still could be seen as a professional foul & the commentator asked the same question.
Gray-Hand
Roar Rookie
Cobbo didn’t get binned because he didn’t tackle him when he was in a try scoring position. An early tackle is just a penalty.
Bernie Vinson
Roar Rookie
Its been a forward pass for 100 years - it will never be fixed - so long as the receiver is behind the passer and its not deliberate out of the hands play on or drop forward passes all together making it 3 dimensional may make it more interesting
Mick P
Roar Rookie
Regular forward passes from dummy half aren’t funny either. I hope the Warrior’s have another ripping year in 2024.