It is worth noting up front that I am neither a fan of the Bulldogs nor the Roosters, and to be honest, could not care any less who won tonight if I tried.
That being said, the decision to award a 51st minute try to Roosters big man Kane Evans was the biggest farce I have seen all season โฆ and considering the downright horrible standard of officiating this season, that is saying something.
I do not for a second buy into the โNRL conspiraciesโ that populate social media. I donโt believe the NRL is in a position to alter match outcomes even if they wanted to.
What I do believe however is that the standard of rugby league officials is the worst of all the major sports in the country.
Matt Ceccin was literally a metre away from the incident in question, and sent the live decision up as a โtryโ.
Due to the STUPIDEST rule in rugby league, Bernard Sutton was supposedly โunable to overturn the on-field decisionโ despite the fact that NO replay showed the ball coming anywhere close to the line.
There was a mountain of evidence to overturn the ridiculous on-field decision, Sutton just didnโt take it.
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— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) September 18, 2015
For one, he was held. Although Ceccin did not call held, Evans was suspended in the air for seconds without moving.
By definition, he is held.
Then, even if he was allowed to continue on, the ball fell WELL short of the line.
Thereโs two pieces of โconclusiveโ evidence that could have saved Matt Ceccinโs and the NRLโs blushes.
I defend referees all the time. Itโs a tough job and they donโt get the benefit of multiple, slow motion replays on field.
Ceccin, although at no point did the ball look anywhere near the line, could have been unsighted, so I suppose you can forgive him for sending it up as a try.
What is unforgivable is the fact Bernard Sutton, who DOES have multiple, slow motion replays at his disposal, could get it so wrong.
Donโt get me wrong, the Roosters did not have it all their way either. Kane Evans was BLATANTLY held off the ball when supporting James Maloney when almost certain to score.
A blatant Bulldog knock on was also ignored just minutes later, but the decision to award an obvious no try to Kane Evans all but ended the Dogs season.
We have all been saying it for months. A refereeing error, or more specifically a video refereeing error, would cost a team their season.
Iโm not saying the Dogs would have won if the correct ruling has been applied, who knows, it may have fired the Roosters up and driven them to put 50 on, but we will never know.
You know a decision is a clanger when 90% of the fans supporting the Roosters refer to it as a โlucky decisionโ.
I am seriously in shock how officials can continue to make such basic and season-altering errors.
I guarantee you referees boss Tony Archer will come out in a few days and announce the referees made an error.
What good will that do?
Itโll only further infuriate Dogs fans, and fans of the NRL in general.
No one wins here.
Now Roosters fans will have to put up with accusations that they were gifted a decision despite their side being far superior tonight.
Meanwhile Matt Ceccin and Bernard Sutton will be on a mid-week flight to either Brisbane or Melbourne to officiate next week.
How can the NRL continue to get it so wrong?
Time for those on massive salaries at NRL HQ (Hello Todd, Shane, Dave) to earn their cheques.
Get rid of this RIDICULOUS โon-field guessโ rule, promote some referees with good eye sight, and make referees accountable for their errors.
I hope I donโt have to type something similar tomorrow night or next weekend, but Iโm not confident.
