The only good news is that it didn’t matter in the end.
The NRL is back in a frenzy after a controversial bunker ruling cost the Eels a try during their loss to the Broncos on Thursday night.
On a miserable night for Parramatta, which saw the club drop to sixth on the NRL ladder, the club added further insult when a clever defensive tactic by Broncos captain Adam Reynolds fooled the Bunker to give the home team four points.
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Commentators, including NRL icon Johnathan Thurston, criticized the decision.
The Bunker had stepped in to review the play with referee Gerard Sutton awarding a try to Eels center Waqa Blake. However, contact made between decoy runner Makahesi Makatoa and Reynolds, who was on the defensive line, caught the attention of the review referee.
Makatoa’s contact with the inside shoulder of Reynolds was enough to get the Eels a try.
The trick running back position has been an unrelenting farce for the league in recent years, with all the tinkering and tinkering with which they haven’t found a consistent way to control it.
The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield described it as a “complete joke” when he posted on Twitter on Thursday.
“The best form of defense in rugby league these days is to stand in front of a seductive runner,” he wrote.
“That he didn’t make a decision was a complete joke.”
Code Sports’ Lachlan McKirdy wrote: “The obstruction rule lacks consistency.”
Speaking to the Channel 9 commentary team, Blues manager Brad Fittler said the decision was “hilarious”.
Thurston even suggested that Reynolds had deliberately held back so that Makatoa would meet him.
“I don’t think it had any influence on the play,” Thurston told Nine.
“So, too clever, and I had one in the bunker there. That’s the shame of the bunker.”
Reynolds was asked about the controversial moment in his post-match press conference and denied suggestions he had given a penalty.
I got pretty tight to obviously get in front of that lead runner. He was a big body so I had to get in front of him and then I tried to check and get free so I got bumped,” Reynolds said.
“It’s part of the rules.”