It’s becoming a joke now.
Only a week ago we spoke about the inconsistencies of bunker rulings with decisions made on high contact. This time, it’s the contentious obstruction rule.
Friday nights clash saw a classic showdown with the battle of the west with Parramatta taking it to Penrith. In the final minutes of the game, we saw Izack Tago cross the line to seal it for the Panthers.
Now, I initially missed the potential obstruction call with this play. It was only Trent Barrett’s blow up in the press conference which took me back to watch the replay. And honestly, I had to agree with him.
Whilst Liam Martin does run at the inside shoulder of the Parramatta player, there is absolutely no doubt that he takes out the defender. And if we look at all decisions this year regarding obstruction, this has been pulled up almost every single time.
Two key incidents this year stick out to me. The first one was when Manly were disallowed a try against Parramatta when Jake Trbojevic was pinged for obstruction on Eels player Luca Moretti. This occurred on the half-way line, and honestly, was an absolute horrendous decision. The contact was so minimal and so far from affecting the actual play that is way laughable. Yet, the bunker said no try.
The other was with the Roosters/Panthers clash in March where Joey Manu’s try was disallowed due after Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was ruled to have obstructed Dylan Edwards from attempting a cover tackle. JWH got through the line, and despite coming in contact with Edwards who was 30 metres from the play, the bunker pulled this up for taking out the defender.
So why wasn’t Friday’s call pulled up?
Monday’s briefing with referees boss Graham Annesley played the audio from the bunker who looked at the incident. Honestly, it was laughable.
You hear three blokes discussing the play and none of them have any idea what they’re looking at. You can hear it in their voices, it was like it was their first day on the job.
And what was their reasoning for allowing the try?
Essentially, they stated, in clear audio, that Daejarn Asi’s foot made contact with Liam Martin, which propelled Liam Martin into the Eels defender. This was the SOLE reason why Liam Martin took out the Parramatta defender.
I can’t help but think back to Trent Robinson’s presser in 2021 when he claimed that the Bunker must have circus music playing in the background.
Seriously, these calls, and both the inconsistency and incompetence demonstrated week in, week out, by the Bunker is turning our game into an absolute farce.
I’ve had enough of these idiots. And again, absolutely no accountability held to these officials by Graham Annesley. Hurry up and fuck them all off.
Listen to the audio yourself.
