{"id":787161,"date":"2026-07-08T14:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/787161\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:54:10","slug":"cant-happen-legends-livid-call-for-bunker-review-as-nrl-admits-huge-origin-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/787161\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Can\u2019t happen\u2019: Legends livid, call for Bunker review as NRL admits huge Origin error"},"content":{"rendered":"

State of Origin legends from both states were left dumbfounded after a contentious Game III <\/a>Blues try was allowed to stand in a massive moment during NSW\u2019s win in the series decider at Suncorp Stadium.<\/p>\n

And the reaction was warranted with the NRL admitting late on Wednesday night on-field the Bunker shouldn\u2019t have awarded a runaway second half try to Bradman Best.<\/p>\n

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With the Blues up 18-8 and Queensland threatening to mount a comeback, Reece Walsh put up an attacking cross field kick which was contested by Maroons and Blues wingers Jojo Fifita and Jack Bostock.<\/p>\n

The ball couldn\u2019t spilt to the ground after a contest before Bradman Best scooped it up and ran 90 metres to score, giving New South Wales a handy 24-8 lead with 20 minutes on the clock.<\/p>\n

Replays showed the ball seemingly glazed the hand of Bostock and bounced forward. <\/p>\n

However, after some deliberation, the Bunker confirmed the try, leaving Maroons legends Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith baffled.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch respect to the match officials, but I\u2019m not sure how in an Origin decider that can go through to the keeper,\u201d Cronk said on Fox League\u2019s Decider Debrief.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just saw it then that it touched the finger. That\u2019s just can\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS <\/p>\n

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Smith was fuming over the call in commentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just can\u2019t get over this call by the Bunker,\u201d Smith said on Channel 9. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a clear touch by Bostock at a crucial time when it\u2019s only a two try game. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe just can\u2019t get those wrong. We cannot get them wrong. Not in games like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith certainly wasn\u2019t alone with Cronk, Greg Alexander and Blues legend Andrew Johns among those agreeing it looked a knock on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ball touches the fingertips of Jack Bostock as it goes behind Fifita\u2019s hand. That ball gets ricocheted off the fingertips of the right hand. To me, he touches it. There is a finger on that ball,\u201d Cronk said on Fox League\u2019s Decider Debrief.<\/p>\n

Alexander added: \u201cAnd Bradman Best is in front of him. The ball goes forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a crucial time in the game. The game was in the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

An NRL spokesperson said in a statement while it was an extremely close call, NSW should not have been awarded the try.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter reviewing all available angles, the Bunker did not believe there was sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field decision,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon detailed review after the match, the NRL believes that while it was an extremely tight decision, the ball appeared to be touched.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith later doubled down on his opinion in Channel 9\u2019s post-game coverage, going as far as to say if it is proven to be the wrong call the NRL needs to have a serious conversation about the future of the Bunker.<\/p>\n

MORE ORIGIN COVERAGE<\/p>\n

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Cleary DOUBLE after early Blues blitz! | 00:31<\/p>\n

\u201cWatching it live, it looked like it touched his right finger, his right hand and that vision there, it doesn\u2019t change my mind at all,\u201d Smith said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t seen the corner post vision. I don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s seen the corner post vision. But I think we\u2019ll see a little bit more of this over the next few days. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s touched his hand and it\u2019s proved to to have touched it, we need a serious review of the Bunker.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed that Queensland lost. Would that have changed the result? Probably not. But it was at a pretty crucial point in the game where Queensland were down by 10 points. We\u2019ve seen that they can they can score points pretty quickly. <\/p>\n

\u201c… It would have been nice if we could have seen that vision that proves this wrong. If everyone can see that surely the man in the Bunker can see it. It\u2019s crazy to think that he couldn\u2019t see that.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the sake of the game… I hope he hasn\u2019t touched it. I really hope he hasn\u2019t. But if he has, we need to sit down as a sport. The administration, the commission need to sit down and make a decision on where we head with this Bunker. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe spent a lot of money on it. We put trust in in people to sit in there and make the right decision. That\u2019s why we have this technology. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re not going to make the right decision in the big games, in the big moments, flick it and we\u2019ll just get on with the way Joey (Johns) wants to do it. Let\u2019s just play it in real time. If the referee awards a try, it\u2019s a try and we move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many shared the outrage and confusion on social media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"State of Origin legends from both states were left dumbfounded after a contentious Game III Blues try was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-787161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=787161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}