The Warriors have bounced back from their 66-6 trouncing at the hands of the Titans last week to hand the Broncos their fourth straight loss.
Wearing their retro 1995 away jerseys marking the club’s 30th anniversary, the Warriors scored six tries to three to run out 32-16 winners at Mt Smart Stadium.
Selwyn Cobbo was denied what would’ve been a contender for try of the year by a controversial Bunker call.
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His side up 16-6 early in the second half, Cobbo cleanly took a short Warriors dropout, fended off several defenders, tip-toed along the touchline and then was hit by Warriors fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad as he crossed in the corner.
It looked live as though Cobbo had dropped the ball, and the man himself didn’t look particularly confident. Referee Todd Smith said no-try when he sent it upstairs.
But a front-on camera angle appeared to show he’d somehow managed to stay in control of the ball all the way to the ground.
“He’s a freak,” Steve Roach quipped in commentary for Fox Sports.
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But it was at that moment the Bunker was shown a side-on shot, which was blurry due to a combination of the relatively poor lighting at Mt Smart Stadium, and the bright LED signage in the background.
The Bunker ruled that Cobbo had dropped the ball.
Fox Sports commentator Warren Smith suggested the side-on shot alone shouldn’t have been enough to deny the try.
”His fingers are obscured by the LED sign in the background,” he said.
“We saw the angle from front-on, and when the ball made contact with the turf his fingers were in contact with the ball.
“The only one which looked like his fingertips had come away, was the one where the LED lights were blurring, blowing out his fingers on the ball.”
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To further murky the call, the Broncos got the ball back anyway after Nicoll-Klokstad was penalised and put on report for a shoulder charge on Cobbo, which raised questions about why a penalty try wasn’t awarded.
The loss could see the Broncos fall out of the top eight and will face the Panthers next weekend.