{"id":787606,"date":"2026-07-08T19:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/787606\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T19:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T19:28:15","slug":"smith-questions-bunkers-future-after-origin-rip-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/787606\/","title":{"rendered":"Smith questions bunker’s future after Origin ‘rip-off’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NRL have admitted to a bunker error in the lead-up to a late NSW try in their State of Origin series-clinching win as Queensland great Cameron Smith questioned the technology’s future in the game.<\/p>\n

The Blues claimed the series 2-1 with a 30-12 win at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night, but a furious Smith raised concerns as to whether Bradman Best’s breakaway try in the 57th minute should have been awarded.<\/p>\n

As Queensland peppered the NSW line with a kick to the air, Jojo Fitita challenged Blues winger Jack Bostock to claim the ball.<\/p>\n

Neither player could gather possession cleanly but replays appeared to show both players touched the ball before it fell forwards, away from the NSW line, and Best scooped it up.<\/p>\n

If Bostock had got a touch to the ball the try would have been denied for a knock on.<\/p>\n

The NRL relayed through the Nine Network’s commentary that a corner flag post camera had cleared Bostock of a knock-on.<\/p>\n

But soon after full-time the NRL confirmed what most of Queensland thought they had seen.<\/p>\n

“After reviewing all available angles, the bunker did not believe there was sufficient evidence to overturn the on-field decision,” a statement read.<\/p>\n

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

\"Cameron<\/p>\n

Former Queensland Origin captain Cameron Smith was critical of the Bunker. (Con Chronis\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

That validated Smith’s earlier cynicism.<\/p>\n

“If that’s touched his hand and it’s proved to have touched it, we need a serious review of the bunker,” the former Queensland captain said on Nine’s post-game show.<\/p>\n

“I’m disappointed that Queensland lost. Would that have changed the result? Probably not. But it was at a pretty crucial point in the game.<\/p>\n

“For the sake of the game, and I mean the NRL, the sport in general, I hope he hasn’t touched it.<\/p>\n

“I really hope he hasn’t, but if he has, we need to sit down as a sport and make a decision on where we head with this bunker.<\/p>\n

“We spent a lot of money on it. We put trust in people to sit in there and make the right decision.<\/p>\n

“If we’re not going to make the right decision in the big games, in the big moments, flick it.”<\/p>\n

Smith’s fellow Nine pundit Andrew Johns also had doubts over the decision to award a try but often was critical of slow-motion replays informing crucial calls.<\/p>\n

“Show it in real time, and if it looks like a try, get on with it,” Johns said.<\/p>\n

“But when I look at it, it does look like it gets a touch.”<\/p>\n

Speaking on ABC radio, former Blues enforcer Luke Lewis said: “I can see his fingers move … I’m so glad it was passed as a try, but I think Queensland were ripped off”.<\/p>\n

\"Slater\"<\/p>\n

Queensland coach Billy Slater walks away after a dispiriting defeat for the Maroons. (Darren England\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Maroons coach Billy Slater, who hadn’t viewed clear footage of the incident, said it was representative of a night when “things didn’t go our way”.<\/p>\n

The hosts conceded three penalties to the Blues’ five and gave away four ruck infringements to the visitors’ three.<\/p>\n

But a miffed Maroons captain Cameron Munster felt the need to speak to referee Ashley Klein at halftime.<\/p>\n

“I had some questions around certain things … it was a frustration point in the heat of the moment, asking Ash some questions and he saw it a little bit differently,” Munster said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NRL have admitted to a bunker error in the lead-up to a late NSW try in their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":787607,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,3193,18742,761,762,158,701,85,6405],"class_list":["post-787606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cameron-smith","tag-jack-bostock","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-queensland","tag-sports","tag-state-of-origin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787606","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=787606"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/787606\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/787607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=787606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=787606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=787606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}