Enter Butler. He was also the TMO involved in the Warriors-Knights schemozzle but, while the referee that day, Ashley Klein, was stood down for the NRL grand final, Butler remained safe and warm in his bunker. Happily for this uber-Australian event, that final did not involve the awkwardness of including a New Zealand team. <\/p>\n
In the test, Butler went into detective mode, correctly spying Papali\u2019i slightly inside the 10m circle and sending the news to referee Adam Gee, who ruled out the try. Now, I\u2019ve seen some dumb rules in my time, though it must be said that rugby union still wins the dopey laws battle ahead of league (rolling mauls and scrum penalties, anybody?).<\/p>\n
Papali\u2019i was indeed inside the 10m circle, but was nowhere near the ball. He didn\u2019t touch Trbojevic; he had no influence on the play whatsoever. So why look so keenly for, as Webster said, \u201cways to take it off us\u201d?<\/p>\n
New Zealand players look on as Australia convert a try during last night’s Rugby League World Cup opener in Sydney. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
This same situation arises in other sports, notably football. In the English Premier League, a goal can be scored with a player in an offside position (which is technically what Papali\u2019i was). If that offside player does not affect how the ball entered the net, the goal is allowed.<\/p>\n
That discretion is inherent in all sports, including league. Hands up all those who think such discretion would have been activated had this been an Australian try? Yep, thought so. I thought I felt the country tip on its axis a bit as the wind caught all the upraised hands.<\/p>\n
Rugby league has done a great job \u2013 better than rugby union \u2013 of ensuring its laws promote entertainment and game flow. However, sometimes it goes too far \u2013 like the mysterious \u201csix again\u201d rule when the defending team infringes somehow and the attacking team get six more tackles.<\/p>\n
Someone rings a bell \u2013 I\u2019m not kidding \u2013 and there is no explanation, no penalty, no pause, just ding-dong and carry on. No point bothering the fans with explanations; they wouldn\u2019t know their elbows from their earholes. Better to dish up instant gratification. Entertainment trumps edification. Oh, look, they\u2019ve scored. Hooray! Wave flags, no way to inquire whether it was justified. <\/p>\n
The Papali\u2019i penalty flies in the face of this don\u2019t-halt-the-game-at-all-costs approach. However, it\u2019s clearly okay to stop in certain circumstances \u2013 and having all the officials from the home country unfortunately brings to mind George Orwell\u2019s Animal Farm: \u201cAll animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yes, the test was a thriller and, to be fair, the Kiwis found other ways to lose after dominating. Throwing two passes for long-range intercept tries is not recommended as a winning tactic. Webster, after his \u201cways to take it off us\u201d comment, also allowed that the Warriors had enough opportunities to win the game anyway \u2013 though there was some toeing the party line there.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re wondering why there aren\u2019t neutral officials for league internationals, so am I. It\u2019s a World Cup, for Pete\u2019s sake \u2013 not a World Cup with \u201cMade For Australia\u201d stamped on the trophy. There were three English refs who could have been involved, including one regarded as the best in the UK. They were shunted off to other games (Papua New Guinea v France; Fiji v Cook Islands; and the England-Wales women\u2019s match).<\/p>\n
Weird. Rugby at least has an international team of neutral refs so that columns like this one can\u2019t be written. So come on, rugby league, tidy up this nonsense if you want your World Cup to be taken seriously. Aussie, Aussie, Aussie \u2026 why, why, why? <\/p>\n