Bunker ‘wrong to deny Warriors try’
An Australian NRL commentator has claimed the video referees wrongly took a forward pass into account in a no-try ruling against the Warriors during their seasonending loss to the Wests Tigers.
Andrew McFadden’s side was bundled out of finals contention for the fifth-straight year on Sunday following a that was marred in controversy.
Warriors centre Solomone Kata appeared to have scored one of the tries of the season just before halftime only for the bunker to call it back for obstruction, even though the Tigers defender in question, Jordan Rankin, never looked in a position to stop the try.
What was far more questionable, however, was the final pass from Issac Luke to Kata, which looked a clear forward pass.
The video officials are unable to rule on forward passes, but Fox Sports commentator James Smith, who played for the Roosters, Magpies and Rabbitohs in the 1990s, had no doubt it influenced the bunker’s decision.
‘‘You can’t forget the forward pass because it forms part of the opinion of the referee,’’ Smith said.
‘‘What they’re thinking is, if I get the right outcome, it doesn’t matter how I got there.’’
Fellow commentator and former Kangaroos and New South Wales centre Mark Gasnier said it could be seen as ‘‘cheating’’ if officials were trying to atone for earlier missed calls.
And he was equally disappointed with the obstruction ruling, particularly with the finals just around the corner.
‘‘It could potentially cost someone a grand final or a competition - that’s why we’re blowing up,’’ Gasnier said on Fox Sports.
That wasn’t the only obstruction call that went against the home team.
With 13 minutes to go, Shaun Johnson scored a try that could have potentially given the Warriors a 12-point lead.
But again the bunker intervened, claiming Tigers prop Aaron Woods was impeded when Johnson ran behind a teammate.
The two disallowed tries were huge talking points after the match. But while McFadden refused to blame them for the defeat, he did believe the video referees were in the wrong.
‘‘I think it shows a lack of awareness from the match officials,’’ the Warriors coach said.
‘‘I’m certainly not going to put down the loss to that. We had more than enough opportunities to win the game.
‘‘They didn’t help. To me there’s some real issue around that.
‘‘Both of those tries, if you play them in live motion, they’re just not obstructions.’’