I love the game of rugby league.
It’s been the game I’ve been brought up on since I was a child. My earliest memories are of listening to the footy from the car stereo as Mum and Dad worked outside.
Nothing brings my greater pleasure than taking my kids to the footy, or sitting back on a Saturday with a case of beer and my mates, knowing there’s three hours of NRL action to play.
I’m a season member of my A-League side, named my daughter after my EPL side, and Boxing Day is my favourite day of the year, but above all else I am a rugby league fan.
That said, the game of rugby league is a labour of love.
If it’s not salary cap scandals, player misbehaviour, or refereeing errors, it’s the NRL making decisions that have fans and coaches alike scratching their head.
Yesterday one of those decisions was handed down, as less than 12 months since the NRL and its officials brainwashed us all into believing that the refereeing bunker was the greatest innovation in the game’s history, have the very same NRL stripped it of its power.
The bunker’s role is now confined only to scoring plays, in goal restarts and reportable, foul play.
They will no longer be able to rule on 40/20’s or in game errors such as obvious knock-ons or strips.
Don’t get me wrong, there are few things more frustrating than celebrating a knock-on call in your team’s favour only to have it overturned by the video referee and a penalty conceded.
That being said, as long as the correct decision has been made, justice prevails and the aforementioned frustration becomes unwarranted.
Now, despite the fact that fans are able to watch countless replays of obvious refereeing errors, decisions cannot be overturned.
I’m sure that won’t frustrate fans, players or coaches at all.
Just as the video referee has to ignore blatant forward passes when ruling on tries, they are forced to sit on their hands even if the most blatant of knock-ons is missed in general play.
To clarify, if a decision is passed upstairs to rule on the play where a try has been scored, the video referee will still have all the power they had last season.
However, in general play, if knock-on is given at the play the ball, despite replays showing clearly a player interfered, a penalty cannot be given, unless the interference includes an offence that could see a player placed on report.
In other words, the NRL have just tied the hands of their multi-million dollar innovation that they spent just as much on marketing to convince us of how awesome it was.
In an era where every decision is scrutinised via multiple camera angles and slow motion replays, and every decision is argued across social media, why would the NRL make life harder for its officials?
In a perfect world, the bunker would never have to intervene during play, however the game is so quick these days and one incorrect decision can totally change a game, or even a season.
Surely the NRL should do everything in its power to assist their officials?
The bunker was meant to be the great white hope in ending refereeing errors. Less than 12 months after its introduction, the NRL has stripped it of decision making powers.
The report also stated that the bunker believed, after a review, that only five errors were made by the team across the season.
I don’t believe that to be true, we’ll assume it is, but the decision to strip the bunker of being able to assist referees brings the incorrect decision tally to six.