Graham Annesley, who is in charge of NRL football, said they were wrong to cancel a try for the Sydney Roosters last Thursday.
In the first half, Joseph Manu seemed to score the Roosters’ first try. But the officials changed their minds because they thought there was a problem.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves had run past the defenders, but they said he got in the way of Penrith’s Dylan Edwards, who was trying to stop Manu.
People who talk about the game were confused because Edwards wasn’t even close to where the problem happened.
Annesley talked to News Corp the next morning and said the officials made a mistake.
He said that in other games, he agreed with the decisions to stop tries because the player running ahead didn’t keep going through the defenders or didn’t get turned back because of a crash with a defender. But he said these things didn’t happen in this case.
He also said the officials could have decided if Edwards could have stopped the try, but in his opinion, Manu would have scored anyway, so they shouldn’t have changed the decision.
The NRL often has trouble making fair decisions about the obstruction rule.
In the game, the video referee gave Sunia Turuva a try even though Liam Martin got in the way of Sitili Tupouniua. The Roosters’ coach, Trent Robinson, wasn’t happy about it.
He said Martin knocked Tupouniua over, but he wouldn’t have stopped the try. He also said Edwards wouldn’t have stopped Manu either.
He thought the decisions were inconsistent. Sometimes, they make decisions without thinking much, and other times, they think too much.
Robinson thought the officials made a clear decision about Edwards changing his path, but they weren’t clear about the obstruction. He said they often get things right because they watch closely, but not this time.
Annesley said he was okay with Turuva’s try.
The Panthers won 22-16, and the decisions about the tries were the biggest talking points after the game.
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