The Penrith Panthers\u2019 hopes of winning five-straight premierships remains alive after securing a 24-8 victory over the New Zealand Warriors on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Despite the contest being played at Go Media Stadium in Auckland, the Panthers controlled the contest for the majority of the 80 minutes.<\/p>\n
Watch every game of the NRL Telstra Premiership Finals Series before the Grand Final, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n After leading 12-2, the Warriors hit back with Leka Halasima scoring and bringing the margin back to only four points.<\/p>\n It was then that controversy hit.<\/p>\n With less than 15 minutes left on the clock, a Nathan Cleary kick from his own 20-yard line wasn\u2019t caught and took a nasty bounce towards chasing Panther Luke Garner.<\/p>\n Garner offloaded it to Blaize Talagi who put in a grubber kick towards the sideline which was collected by Brian To\u2019o who then drew in a defender before finding Casey McLean who scored uncontested.<\/p>\n But it was Garner\u2019s initial offload that caught the attention of everyone watching on with questions raised over if it was forward or not.<\/p>\n Watch the controversial moment in the video player above<\/p>\n \u201cWas it a forward pass? Play on the call. Forget the pass, the Panthers score an unbelievable finals try,\u201d Warren Smith said on Fox League.<\/p>\n \u201cBoy I\u2019m not sure the Warriors fans will forget the pass. But it\u2019s brilliant work from Garner. Boy, close your eyes at the pass if you\u2019re a Warriors fan. Gee whiz, ball goes forward,\u201d Michael Ennis said.<\/p>\n Never miss the latest sports news from Australia and around the world \u2014 download the news.com.au app <\/a>direct to your phone.<\/p>\n Steve Roach added: \u201c\u201cI\u2019m with you. I think the pass is forward.\u201d<\/p>\n NRL great Cooper Cronk was blunt in his assessment of the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Kieran Foran added: \u201cThat was the part of the game where the Warriors were starting to gain some momentum and they were back in the contest, you thought they might come home strongly.<\/p>\n \u201cThat try really broke their backs. We\u2019ve seen those called forward throughout the season, sometimes they get missed. It was an unfortunate one if you were a Warriors fan.\u201d<\/p>\n The commentary crew weren\u2019t alone in believing the offload had gone forward with fans on social media erupting and stating the decision to not penalise the pass killed the contest.<\/p>\n Mark Gottlieb wrote on X: \u201cThat\u2019s a forward pass to me. Tight, and hardly a howler, but forward. All academic now though. You just can\u2019t kill the Panthers.\u201d<\/p>\n John Michaels added: \u201cThe forward pass killed this contest.\u201d<\/p>\n Leith Ross wrote: \u201cA mile forward that Pass from the Panthers!\u201d<\/p>\n Another wrote: \u201cOF COURSE the f***ing panthers score off a forward pass.\u201d<\/p>\n A fifth posted: \u201cForward every day, completely destroyed the momentum there.\u201d<\/p>\n The Bunker wouldn\u2019t have helped the Warriors<\/p>\n While the outrage poured in, it would have mattered little with forward passes not scrutinised by the NRL Bunker.<\/p>\n When decisions are sent upstairs, no matter how blatant they might look \u2026 the Bunker is powerless against a forward pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n And it all goes back to 2013 when chief operating officer of the NRL, Graham Annesley, said it was too subjective to call them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s massively subjective in a two-dimensional picture that distorts if the camera is not directly in line with it. Also, the rule itself is all about how the ball leaves the passer\u2019s hand rather than the path that it travels across the ground, so a ball can be forward but thrown correctly and float forward and still be a legal pass,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n