NRL admits crucial referee error that dudded Eels in thrilling two-point semi-final loss to Penrith
2 hours ago
NRL's head of football Graham Annesley has conceded Parramatta was robbed of a crucial penalty during Saturday's thrilling two-point semi-final loss to Penrith in Mackay.
The score was locked at 8-6 in the Panthers' advantage and the Eels were desperately searching for points to keep their premiership dream alive when the match-defining incident played out.
With little more than 12 minutes left on the clock, Parramatta shifted the ball left to find winger Blake Ferguson, who sprinted down the sideline before putting through a grubber kick, which was cleaned up by scrambling Penrith defenders.
In the aftermath of the game, though, vision emerged of Eels halfback Mitchell Moses being illegally obstructed as he tried to run in support of Ferguson. Moses would have been an extra Eels player at the loose ball if not for Penrith playmaker Jarome Luai tugging on his shoulder, knocking him off his run.
"They start jostling each other... but it gets to a point where Luai grabs Moses by the shoulder and tips him off balance," Annesley said in his weekly press briefing.
"In this case this should have been a penalty."
If the foul was spotted at the time, the Eels would have had the option to kick for two points to level the score, or tap the ball and continue attacking the tired Penrith defence.
Annesley said it was an error made by the sideline official, not by main referee Ashley Klein or anyone in the video review bunker.
"Every play is a crucial play. This is a miss by the touch judge in this case. As long as I've been involved in the game back-play is the realm of the touch judge," Annesley said.
"It's a miss, there's no question about that. It should have been picked up. But in this case it wasn't.
"The bunker can't intervene on general play. The only way the bunker could rule on this would be if there was a tryscoring situation and the referee referred it to the bunker," he said.
"Because the play doesn't break down, it continues, it's not something the bunker can intervene on."
Annesley also spoke about a number of other contentious decisions made during the frantic and enthralling semi-final.
Both teams scored just one try, and ultimately it was a Nathan Cleary penalty goal which proved the difference at full time.
That penalty came in the first half and was awarded to the Panthers when Liam Martin was ruled to have been hit high by Eels tackler Will Smith.
Slow replays had many viewers convinced Smith did not make high contact with the Panthers forward, but Annesley disagreed.
"We can see the arm come up, and the forearm hits just under the chin," Annesley said.
"You can see the impact on the chin from the arm. You'll see the face contort differently as the contact is made.
"It's come from underneath but it's hit him on the chin and I think by any standard that's a penalty."
Replies
the bunker can not intervene if it is favouring Parramatta but they can intervene it it is favouring Penrith. The Niukori penalty was ruled by the bunker. After once again Penrith stopped play when the person was not seriously injured nor had they been assessed. Fisher Harris was not even taken off after the event and they received a dodgy free interchange as well which apparently they used at the end of the match.
Well stated Speech!
the mop up is so infuriating, I'm coming to the conclusion they must want us all to blew our collective head gaskets!!
That HIA interchange cannot possibly be correct. You get a free interchange if a player is replaced due to HIA. You can't put one in the bank and leave a concussed/HIA player on the field. It is illegal to leave a HIA affected player on the field. There was no free interchange put in the bank to use later. Penrith have allowed an extra man to play for the last 10 minutes and should be forced to forfeit the match. Full stop. If the club don't insist on this today I will not be renewing membership next year. When the fans are more passionate about success than the club then it is time to give it away.
Sorry, PT but that's how it works. If an incident is put on report, the "injured" player can be removed with a free interchange and can return using a free interchange. Now the rule doesn't state the affected player only can return. You can bank those interchanges for the entire game. What Penrith did is well within the rules in that regard.
Now having this rule is another debate entirely.
PT it totally blows the mind! And agree the club should send nrl a detailed please explain on behalf of all the fans - at very least with the hope that when we get there next year this rort will not happen again. If only they follow the wording of the very well articulated article on TCT - 10 Things I hate about you NRL- fully recommend you read this if you haven’t already (it’s not quite a comprehensive but is brilliantly written regards some of the main ones)
Only wish this article is sent to media and on the wider NRL stage!!
but as usual it’s all swept. Some of us will never forget though mate x
Here’s the link. Be great if we could flood the NRL fan base with a link to it https://thecumberlandthrow.com/2021/09/19/whisky-musings-2021-final...
What a load of shit. They can go back 3 or 4 plays to pick up a foul any other time.
Load of horse shit they go back several plays every week to get involved they are just damage controlling everything now
Wasnt that for Will Smiths strip ? Tells Gutho to challenge it. Reckon Gutherson would've been pretty pissed off about that.
It wasn't a strip. Too many of these get ruled a strip. The defender has the right to grip the ball when he's making a tackle. We're seeing attackers then deliberately pull their arm away and "lose" the ball and because there are no former players in the Bunker anymore, the refs are getting easily conned into a strip when it's simply poor ball control.
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