The NRL concedes officials missed a crucial knock-on call late in Canberra’s golden-point win over the Dolphins.
With scores locked at 30-30, Canberra’s Hudson Young knocked the ball forward into the arm of Ray Stone, before the Raiders regained possession.
The Raiders were awarded set restart after officials pinged Kaufusi for knocking the ball forward, before Jamal Fogarty slotted the match-winning field goal four plays later.
The NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley said referee Peter Gough was obscured in his view of the knock on, but the sideline officials should have pulled the play up.
“I can understand how difficult this would have been in live to play for the officials to pick up. But the fact is, they did miss it,” Annesley said.
“As Hudson Young goes to take the ball, his fingers touch the ball, and then it comes off the upper arm of Stone.
“I wish we could change that decision so the outcome is determined entirely by the players.
“It’s disappointing for us when there is a decision made by an official that brings into question the outcome of the game.”
Play was stopped two tackles after the missed knock-on for a concussion check on Stone, but there was no scope for the bunker to go back and review the error.
Video officials are only able to review action after the play-the-ball on point-scoring plays, unless it is a reportable act of foul play.
Asked whether there should be more ability for the bunker to check decisions in golden point, Annesley said that could not be considered until season’s end.
“If you’re trying to get decisions right, there has to be a line in the sand about how far you can go back,” Annesley said.
“Policy can change, but our policy wouldn’t normally be reviewed until the end of the season.
“They are matters the commission would have to consider. There is a trade-off in these things, there would be a trade-off in the continuity of play.”
The NRL also spent Monday reviewing South Sydney’s interchange bungle in their win over Brisbane on Friday night.
It is likely the Rabbitohs will be handed a fine for having 14 men on the field for 15 seconds during the 32-6 win.
Teams have previously been docked points in close matches for interchange breaches, with Canterbury the most recent in 2009.
But Annesley said blanket punishments were not the answer.
“I don’t think there ever can be a blanket rule for anything in a game like ours,” Annesley said.
“There are so many circumstances, so many degrees of seriousness.
“There was a report on the weekend (about the Canterbury breach) that resulted directly in the outcome of the game with a player that shouldn’t have been on the field.
“That’s very different to another scenario where a player might not have any impact by being on the field for a short period of time.”
