The Wests Tigers‘ round three clash against the Warriors has been marred by bizarre gaffe from a referee which saw an apparent try disallowed without being sent to the Bunker.
The disallowed try proved to be pivotal as the Tigers slumped to an 0-3 start to the 2022 season after a 16-12 Warriors win at Campbelltown Sports Stadium.
The incident occurred midway through the first half with the scores tied at 6-6 when Tigers second-rower Luciano Leilua thought he’d got his hands on a grubber kick into the in-goal area.
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However, the apparent try was waved off by referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski, who immediately called for a 20m restart, opting not to send the play up to the Bunker, with the call leaving all involved baffled.
“I don’t understand that [why it wasn’t checked]. I really don’t,” said Tigers coach Michael Maguire after the match.
“You’ve got that much technology in our game and you can’t go back and see it. It’s ridiculous.
“Those are big moments for teams that are feeling it and going through a period like we are. Those are game-changers.
“We had an opportunity at the back end, but it changes the mentality within a game.
“That’s why we have the technology to work through those things.”
Maguire made mention of the NRL’s new approach to head knocks, which now sees an independent doctor with the power to pull a player from the field who’s showing signs of concussion.
The independent doctor sits in a remote bunker where they have access to every angle of the match before determining whether a play must come off the field for an HIA.
“The medical people seem to pick up things a lot better than what you saw there,” Maguire added.
“Last week we had two HIAs, which I get they have to go through the processes and iron them out, but once again technology in a moment in the game got us.
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“We’ve got people spotting those sorts of things and they go back to passages in the games, five or six minutes or whatever it was last week, and we get a player taken off. Their player stays on, but they can’t go and check that (tonight’s moment with Leilua).
“They’ve got to get them right. They’re big things for teams like us … that moment there changes the outcome of where we ended up tonight.”
Fans booed at Campbelltown Stadium as the replays were shown on the big screen, realising that the Tigers had been robbed.
“The fans are blowing up and rightfully so – you had to have a look at that,” Balmain Tigers legend Steve Roach said on commentary for Fox League.
Things didn’t get much better for the Tigers after they entered the half-time break trailing 14-12.
Zane Musgrove, who scored a try minutes before the main break, was placed on report for a late hit on Bayley Sironen 12 minutes into the second half.
The incident occurred as the Warriors were pushing to extend their lead with an attack on the right side of the Tigers’ defence.
Sironen drew Musgrove towards him before offloading a quick pass to his right, only to be clubbed across the neck by Musgrove’s swinging right arm after he released the ball to teammate Matt Lodge.
Unlike the Leilua play in the first half, the referee opted to send this one up to the Bunker, with replays catching Musgrove’s dangerous act.
The Tigers were left to lament a number of missed opportunities in what ended up being a tryless second half for both sides.
Tigers duo Daine Laurie and Starford To’a both bombed what looked to be certain tries, with under-fire coach Maguire left shaking his head in the coaches’ box.
Maguire’s Tigers will travel to Queensland next week for a round four clash against the Gold Coast Titans, while the Warriors will face the Brisbane Broncos.
“I don’t understand that [why it wasn’t checked]. I really don’t,”
“You’ve got that much technology in our game and you can’t go back and see it. It’s ridiculous.
“Those are big moments for teams that are feeling it and going through a period like we are. Those are game-changers.
“We had an opportunity at the back end, but it changes the mentality within a game.
“That’s why we have the technology to work through those things.”
“The medical people seem to pick up things a lot better than what you saw there,”
“Last week we had two HIAs, which I get they have to go through the processes and iron them out, but once again technology in a moment in the game got us.
“We’ve got people spotting those sorts of things and they go back to passages in the games, five or six minutes or whatever it was last week, and we get a player taken off. Their player stays on, but they can’t go and check that (tonight’s moment with Leilua).
“They’ve got to get them right. They’re big things for teams like us … that moment there changes the outcome of where we ended up tonight.”