Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has broken his silence on the controversial call that went against him in his 12-6 victory over the Penrith Panthers on Thursday.
Gun centre Robert Toia was denied a try in the first half after it was ruled Mark Nawaqanitawase illegally disrupted Thomas Jenkins' chance of catching a Daly Cherry-Evans attacking kick.
The try was taken off the Roosters after Nawaqanitawase flew through the air and held one hand out to bat the ball back to Toia.
Although the Bunker deemed Nawaqanitawase's work in the play illegal, it was one of the first disruptor calls in months on the NRL field.
Fox commentator Andrew Voss was animated when he saw the return of the rule, claiming it “poked its head out after 10 years in hibernation like a Galapagos tortoise”.
“It's back... I swear I have seen 20, maybe more, that we just moved on from,” Voss added.
The disruptor rule was the talk of the town at the start of the 2026 season, with the NRL admitting to two incorrect rulings on the disruptor rule during April, and has been largely untouched by referees in the second half of the regular season.
Robinson took aim at the fact Nawaqanitawase had his run into the play obstructed by Izack Tago, and hoped for a penalty to be awarded.
“Pretty clearly you're not allowed to go up with one arm and miss the ball,” Robinson said in his post-match press conference.
“So Ash (Klein in the Bunker) has ruled on that, which is clearly the rule. But then when you put the one before it, the reason he went up with one arm was because he got illegally escorted off the ball in a try-scoring position.
“I think everybody thinks it should have been a try, but I'll be interested. I know that you can't go up and miss with one hand, but it was quite clear why.
“There'll be some questions. I need to ask some questions out of tonight. Not so much the video ref, more the on-field.
“I need to get some interpretations about language and stuff from tonight.”
Despite the contentious call against the tri-colours, they did enough to get the job done and take one step closer to wrapping up the minor premiership.
The thrilling win over the Panthers puts them two points ahead of them on the ladder, and with matches against the Tigers, Dolphins and Rabbitohs, they are firming up for a deep finals run in hopes of securing a 16th title.
The greater the number of rules, the greater the chance of inconsistent application.
My suggestion: NRL to “clean up” the rule book by stripping out various rules that no-one likes because they require too much subjectivity to enforce consistently.
Note to PVL. You like to see the game run as quickly as possible. Having complex and contentious rules like this “Disruptor” rule slows down the game, because it often involves long bunker analysis. So don’t ignore this suggestion automatically.
SUGGESTION. NRL Central invites the clubs to consult their members and others, and to each make a written submission to the NRL. Submissions will be published on the web-site.
Each submission should identify rules to be deleted, or amended, to simplify the game, and to avoid subjectivity in their interpretation.
Clubs can consult whoever they want to (including Zero Tackle writers !)
NRL will look at the submissions, make some decisions and test out the changes in the Trials at the start of season 2027