The NRL have confirmed match officials made two correct decisions in not penalising Sydney Roosters players James Tedesco and Luke Keary on Saturday evening.
The duo were both able to charge down attempted field goals by Cronulla Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes during the dying stages of the game, which the tri-colours ultimately won 13 points to 12 to set up a semi-final this Friday evening with the Melbourne Storm.
Some claims suggested both players were actually offside prior to making their charges at the ball, but the NRL's head of football Graham Annesley said on Monday at his weekly briefing that it simply wasn't the case.
Under the current NRL rules, players must only have one foot behind the goal line if the play the ball is within the ten-metre zone, while both feet must be behind if the play the ball is outside of that zone.
The ten-metre rule in full reads:
All defending players except those who have taken up a position as Marker[s] must โretire 10 metres from the point at which the ball is played or to their own goal line'.
All defending players are required to be โin line' with the Referee marking the 10 metres.
The Referee will call โgoโ when the ball has been played backwards and then the defensive line is entitled to move forward.
If the defensive line is within 10 metres of their own goal line, the players:
1. Must be touching the goal line with a foot; and
2. The defenders cannot place their front foot past the centre of the ruck.
In the instance of James Tedesco's charge down, he clearly had a foot behind the goal line until the ball had been played, which is the legal point a player can leave the defensive line.
There is no requirement to wait for a dummy half to pick up the ball, and Annesley said the footage was clear.
"For the ball to be clear of the ruck, it just has to be behind the foot, or the heel has passed over the ball as the ball is being played. You can clearly see that at this point Tedesco has his foot anchored on the goal line and the ball is clear. That's when he starts his run and of course he charges down the kick," Annesley said.
"That footage shows he was clearly onside as per the rules."
The second charge down, from Luke Keary, saw him come from the in goal area after running on a diagonal curved pattern at Hynes from out wide.
Incredibly, he was behind the goal line - further back than he needed to be - when the defensive line was allowed to move, but already being in motion allowed him to gain the jump on his teammates and win the race to the ball.
"He [Luke Keary] comes from a very different position. The players we are interested in are the active players who try to charge the kick down. When the ball is played, Keary is running on an angle which is an unusual way to charge a kick down," Annesley said.
"[From another camera angle] You'll notice a few other players who don't make it to the goal line, so technically they are offside but they are inactive. That happens all throughout the game where players are passively offside.
"Keary steps into the in goal and you can see he goes beyond the goal line. The ball is played and clear of the ruck with Keary actually in the in goal area before he starts his run."
Both decisions being correct means the game finishes without controversy in a contest where James Tedesco was sin binned and the Roosters had to overcome multiple injuries to topple the disappointing Sharks.
The Roosters now travel to Melbourne to play the Storm on Friday evennig.
People criticise Graham Annesley when he has to defend indifferent calls, but it’s rare for them to compliment him when he gives a clear explanation that shows the ref was correct. So I’ll say it: “well said, Graham” !