NRL 2023: Crucial Sea Eagles forward pass call was wrong

Graham Annesley concedes the officials in Saturday’s game at Accor Stadium got a crucial call wrong when they ruled that Brad Parker’s pass to Josh Schuster had gone forward as Manly attacked the line.

Schuster then linked up with Tom Trbojevic, who planted the ball over the line, although a couple of Rabbitohs players may have stopped chasing when they heard the whistle.

The Sea Eagles still had time to win it given it was early in the game, but it was a massive call on the night and proved costly as the Rabbitohs kicked a field goal in golden point to win 13-12.

There was immediate outcry from commentators and fans, with no one agreeing that it was forward and it was simply Parker’s momentum that made it look a little bit dodgy.

“He rotates his body and he’s looking at Schuster who’s chasing him. The angle of the ball as it comes out of the hands is being passed backwards,” NRL head of football Graham Annesley said at his weekly briefing.

“From the point where the ball is passed … to the point where the ball is caught, the ball has clearly moved forward across the ground.

“But that’s not the indicator of a forward pass. It’s not about the path that the ball travels across the ground, it’s about how the ball comes out of the hands. That’s the rule and it always has been.”

It led to the almost weekly chat about forward pass technology and the prospect of putting a chip in the ball to help referees, but Annesley said that wouldn’t be introduced during the season and it would only make games drag on more.

Sea Eagles forward Josh Aloiai was asked about the decision but held his tongue to avoid any risk of being fined.

“I won’t comment on it because when I comment on reffing I get fined and I get in trouble,” he said.

“I’m not really allowed to speak my mind on any of that stuff, so I’ll stay away from it.”

Annesley also did his best to explain three other key rulings from the weekend, although he wasn’t as definitive, conceding not all decisions are black and white.

The first one was an alleged strip by Viliame Kikau, which was deemed a knock on by Adam Pompey, which resulted in a 12-point turnaround as Josh Addo-Carr scored from the next play.

“I know that what we try to do here is we try to give a definitive answer on these, but some of them you just can’t,” Annesley said.

“I can understand why they made the decision, but my decision on this as to whether it was stripped or whether it wasn’t stripped is no better than anyone else watching.

“Some of these things, there is no right or wrong answer.”

Annesley held a similar view to a Jesse Ramien try on Sunday night when some people thought Tyrell Sloan was impeded as he went up for a kick, but he was more decisive on Shaun Johnson’s try that seemed to split the footy world in half.

It was similar to a call last year when Jason Taumalolo was denied a try because a support player had impeded a defender, but this time the try stood, with the bunker convinced Addin Fonua-Blake had done nothing wrong.

Even Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould thought it was a try and the prop hadn’t illegally blocked Reed Mahoney.

“He’s running a straight line as a support player. He continues to run a straight line and he doesn’t deviate at all, and he’s still looking at Shaun Johnson in case he gets the ball,” Annesley explained.

“In my view that’s a correct decision, but I can understand people saying ‘Mahoney wasn’t given the opportunity to try to get to Johnson’. The only question I would ask here about that view is ‘where is Fonua-Blake supposed to go?’

“He’s entitled to be a support player and he could’ve got the ball. When he doesn’t get the ball, he can’t then just disappear into thin air. He can’t stop his momentum and go into reverse and back away.

“These three incidents are classic examples of some of the controversy that can be generated in our game where there are not necessarily any right or wrong answers.”

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ70qmmq6xfo7%2Bte9OhmK2rXam1pnnRrqOeZZGjsW6102aYpa%2BRrsButMCsZJudlaN6r77LZpidpZmpwG6yzquumqqUYr2iv9JmmpqknGLEs7vNoGannaeoerTAzquwaHBjaYGnfpiea3Cek2axp3%2BXcHCemZVlhXKBlG1wbmuV