Denan Kemp, the former Broncos NRL player and SEN commentator was equally scathing of the Eels as the officiating in the Eels’ Round 1 loss to the Melbourne Storm in his podcast.
“The jersey deserved better than that second half," he admitted.
“(But) The refereeing, especially in the first half, was unacceptable. Unacceptably bad refereeing.”
Kemp pointed to a period early in the match where the set restarts were heavily skewed.
“There was one period where the set restarts were 4–0 in favour of the Storm, and yet their average play-the-ball speed was faster than the Eels.”
“I just don’t get it. To have a faster average play-the-ball speed and also four consecutive six-again penalties.”
“How does that work?”
On the Captain’s Challenge adjudicated by the bunker, Kemp was even more direct.
“I couldn't believe what I was watching. That is disgraceful video refereeing.”
“You can see his arms literally going to pass the ball backwards.”
“What do you mean it hit the attacker’s arm off the defender’s arm?”
He also criticised the momentum shift created by repeated restarts.
“I don’t like that one of their first tries was because they went six-again, six-again, try.”
Kemp then referenced the controversial incident involving Iongi.
“My player has to go off for an HIA after a head-high and crusher and it’s not even a penalty.”
“It was really, really bad refereeing.”
Even some Storm fans at the ground were reportedly astonished at several decisions.
So let’s take a closer look.
High-Level Momentum and Fatigue Management
| 00:30 | PEN for Storm– Dangerous Tk | Hopgood Sin Bin |
| 01:27 | 6A for Storm | |
| 01:42 | Error Storm | |
| 01:53 | PEN for Eels – Slow Peel | |
| 03:17 | Error Storm | |
| 04:32 | 🏉 Try Eels – Russell | 0–4 |
| 06:53 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 09:37 | 6A for Storm | |
| 09:47 | 6A for Storm | |
| 10:27 | 🏉 Try Storm – Warbrick | 6–4 |
| 13:31 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 14:45 | 🏉 Try Storm – Grant | 12–4 |
| 16:49 | 6A for Storm | |
| 17:23 | Error Storm | |
| 18:57 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 19:53 | Error Storm | |
| 22:36 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 22:36 | CAPTAIN'S CHALLENGE FAILED | |
| 24:16 | PEN for Eels – 2nd Effort | |
| 25:00 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 25:17 | PEN for Storm | |
| 26:19 | 🏉 Try Storm – Howarth | 18–4 |
| 29:21 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 31:07 |
IONGI HIGH-CRUSHER HIA (no penalty) |
|
| 31:23 | 6A for Eels | |
| 35:01 | 6A for Eels | |
| 35:27 | PEN for Eels – Late Tackle | |
| 36:14 | 6A for Eels | |
| 36:33 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 37:27 | Error Storm | |
| 38:16 | ❌ Error Eels | |
|
Half-Time |
18–4 | |
| 40:58 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 41:20 | 6A for Storm | |
| 42:36 | 6A for Eels | |
| 43:04 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 45:14 | 6A for Storm | |
| 46:09 | 🏉 Try Storm – Chan | 24–4 |
| 48:39 | Error Storm | |
| 50:09 | 6A for Storm | |
| 50:26 | 6A for Storm | |
| 50:50 | 🏉 Try Storm – Grant | 30–4 |
| 53:24 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 53:26 | PEN for Storm – Offside | |
| 54:45 | Error Storm | |
| 55:00 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 55:43 | 🏉 Try Storm – Leo | 36–4 |
| 58:55 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 62:26 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 63:07 | 🏉 Try Storm – Faalogo | 42–4 |
| 65:08 | PEN for Storm– Professional Foul | Simmo Sin Bin |
| 66:37 | 🏉 Try Storm – Lisati | 46–4 |
| 69:08 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 70:03 | ❌ Error Eels | |
| 71:11 | 6A for Storm | |
| 71:51 | Error Storm | |
| 71:58 | PEN for Eels – 2nd Effort | |
| 74:47 | 6A for Eels | |
| 76:53 | 🏉 Try Storm – Faalogo | 52–4 |
| 79:07 | PEN for Eels | |
| 80:00 | ❌ Error Eels |
17-8 errors and 63% completions sealed the Eels' fate. So did 404 vs 278 tackles.
But, let's look at the time zones where restarts were awarded.
Graph: Time Zones for Set Restarts; Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
The Eels were only given set restarts in two small chunks.
Late in the first half, either side of the break — after the Storm had 18-4 on the board. And then late in the second half in the final minutes — after the Storm had racked up 46-4.
That's high-level fatigue and momentum management in effect.
And it is irrespective of intent, or if it is unrelated pay-back against the Eels' confronting and subpoenas of HQ in the Lomax-Storm saga the Eels won.
17 vs 3 sets
In between the 46th and 72nd minute the real damage was done.
The Storm had 17/19 sets compared with the Eels 3/6.
During that time the score went from 18-4 to 46-4 in the 66th minute.
During that time, the Eels made 150 vs 40 tackles, held the ball 3.5 vs 11 minutes.
How the Eels only managed to only concede one try in the last 14 minutes with 12 men for ten minutes of those with all that preceded is a miracle.
In the second half the Storm has 24 tackles vs 1 tackle in the opposition red zone.
Kemp's noted: "The silver lining here is Ryles can use that (game) for the rest of the season of like, boys, this is how far away we are from the top tier."
2026 could also be the Year of the Ref.
Summary of Questionable Refereering:
- Hopgood’s head clash resulted in a penalty and a sin bin and a two-week suspension, which seems excessive when compared to Crichton’s direct-head contact with Tu’s head which only resulted in a penalty.
- The HIA incident involving Iongi, which appeared high and a crusher, didn’t even result in a penalty.
- The Captain’s Challenge decision seemed dubious as Kemp noted, Ryley Smith's hands were clearly moving backwards at all times.
- From the 45th to the 72nd minute, the Storm completed 17/19 sets, compared with the Eels’ 3/6.
- During that same stretch, the score blew out from 18–4 at half-time to 46–4 by the 66th minute.
- The set restarts were 9-5 to the Storm.
- Kemp also makes the point that the Storm’s play-the-ball speed was faster than the Eels’, which makes the lopsided six-again restarts 4-0 at the beginning seem odd.
-
The only time the Eels received any set restarts was either side of half-time (31st–42nd minute) and very late in the game (from the 74th minute) , after the Storm had already those established decisive leads mentioned above.
Replies
We made too many errors and played poorly. We didn't handle the things that went against us. No-one is disputing that.
But the refereering was atrocious, let's not be naive. Even non-Eels fans are seeing that.
Not many teams could come back from that amount of one-sided refereering and the way momentum and fatigue was managed. It contributed to the scoreline.
And if we get the same refereering standards on Thursday, the score could be more than that.
Yes well if you don't respect possession, you end up without the ball and no chance of getting an advantage through penalties
HOE, I think there was a bit of a lack of leadership on the field. It appears that the players were kind of rushing things and pushing passes that resulted in errors. Moses should (or maybe he had) told the boys to just hang on to the ball and complete their sets. We know that the guys were fatigued defending due to lack of possession ( one stage only 29%), but senior players should have calmed the others down.
The referees have way too much influence on game results...
Spot on Eel_Fan_boy, I used to think coaches blaming refs was just frustration. But when you dig deeper it's not just that. Let's look at our errors, now.
01:42 — Storm error (knock-on in possession)
03:17 — Storm error (handling error / knock-on)
06:53 — Eels error (knock-on bringing ball out of yardage)
13:31 — Eels error (forward pass in attack)
17:23 — Storm error (dropped ball in contact)
18:57 — Eels error (knock-on in play-the-ball area)
19:53 — Storm error (knock-on in possession)
First 20 mins Eels made less errors 3 vs 4
22:36 — Eels error (handling error)
25:00 — Eels error (knock-on in contact)
29:21 — Eels error (dropped ball early in set)
36:33 — Eels error (forward pass)
37:27 — Storm error (knock-on)
38:16 — Eels error (knock-on under pressure)
Next 20 mins Eels made 5 vs 1 errors (ballooned); Storm made an error when the ref started to award us our first restarts late in the first half
40:58 — Eels error (knock-on receiving pass)
43:04 — Eels error (handling error coming out of defence)
48:39 — Storm error (knock-on in tackle)
53:24 — Eels error (knock-on in contact)
54:45 — Storm error (handling error)
15 minutes after half-time Eels made 3 vs 2 errors (close)
55:00 — Eels error (dropped ball early in set)
58:55 — Eels error (knock-on attempting offload)
62:26 — Eels error (knock-on in contact)
69:08 — Eels error (handling error)
70:03 — Eels error (forward pass under pressure)
71:51 — Storm error (knock-on)
80:00 — Eels error (last-play handling error)
Next 25 minutes Eels made 6 vs 1 error (ballooned); Storm made an error when the ref started to award us our first restarts late in the second half
The errors ballooned after the Storm built momentum and fatigue turned us to jelly in a vicious cycle — to which the ref directly contributed.
It's not all on the ref, but he certainly helped the scoreline and managed the momentum. Consequently, our fatigue levels. We got desperate and were forcing passes and mentally in all sorts. I was shocked when I saw we kicked 66m in the first half. We have one of the biggest and best boots in the game. When Manly upset the Storm last year they kicked for over 850m.
My only concern now is our state of mind. Our confidence and belief might be shot to pieces. If we are competitive against the Broncos (ref dependent), I'm going to be relieved.
HOE, completing 13/21 sets with 8 errors in H1 means that 77m kicking stat reflects the Eels dropped the ball late in sets prior to getting to their kick?
Daz, IMO, kicking earlier in the set with an agressive kick-chase would have been a better strategy than trying to get around them and force passes when on the back foot. The Storm feed off errors and momentum.
The referees are controlling the outcome of games. It's disgraceful.
The referees have been poor for years and years; and the NRL is about entertainment you need to remember. Bill Harrigan being ref boss would be a good start but they won't do it.
As others have said the refs 'seem to determine' the flow of the game.
Parra in Brisbane....good luck. TBH I am expecting a v tough game momentum wise and feel we may be on the end of another decent score unless we have some more control / luck.
A former international who played at the highest levels for a decade plus told me after the Storm v Eels game, the NRL has become WWE wrestling.
But I suspect the root of the problem comes from HQ and upstream. Most refs want to be fair, and some would be quietly concerned with what happened in the Storm game.
Refs are subject to agendas. They even get salary deductions if the game goes overtime and disrupts broadcasters and HQ bombards them with new crackdowns or agendas every week to boggle the mind.
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