It’s causing controversy but NRL referees boss Tony Archer says the current video referee rules are fine with him.
A weekend full of questionable calls was capped off on Monday night when Penrith winger Dallin Watene-Zelzniak was denied a spectacular airborne effort during the Panthers’ loss to Sydney Roosters.
While Watene-Zelzniak appeared to have at least four fingers on the ball as he grounded it while off the ground, video referees Shayne Hayne and Luke Patten upheld the on-field referee’s original no-try call.
Archer emphasised that the current system only allows video referees to overturn on-field calls if there’s sufficient evidence to do so, and said he could understand how the decision was reached in Watene-Zelzniak’s case.
The call was one of several, including a missed knock-on in the build-up to Newcastle’s second try during their 20-18 win over Gold Coast, that Archer admitted was the wrong decision.
But he said there won’t be an adjustment to the system or the removal of the requirement for the on-field referee to make a decision before calling for the video referee.
“He’s in the best position to make that decision,” Archer told NRL.com.
“He’s generally the closest person to the ball when it’s being grounded or a decision in relation to obstruction.
“Encourage the referees to do it, it then becomes a review process where there is a sufficiency test where there needs to be enough evidence to overturn or confirm a live decision.”
Titans coach Neil Henry said it was nice to have Archer admit the call during the Knights’ match was a wrong one, but it did little to help the result.
Henry added that during a chat with Archer earlier this week he’d raised some other concerns.
“He’s going to look at a few other issues in that particular game too,” Henry said.
“A couple of other calls around consistency and discretionary penalties as well. I thought we had a couple of our kickers knocked over at different times too. Both Aidan Sezer and Daniel Mortimer were knocked over after kicking the ball.
“I wanted to get some answers about a few other things, not just that particular play.”
