The game needs to address the inconsistences in the bunker and their decisions and what they can and can't rule on. I for believe if they what them to contribute to the decisions, then it must be all decisions. FORWARD passes included. What I saw tonight has made me rethink if I want to watch the crap that is dished up every week since the NRL has F#ck with the rules. I'm pretty close to being over it.
There have been so many changes to the rules in the NRL with the bunker now ingrained in the officiating that there is no way of going back to a time without it.
Once you had a ref and 2 linesman officiating a game.
Now you have chief officiator making decisions sitting in a room somewhere based on review.
Here is just one clusterfuk entrenched into the game because we have a bunker - milking.
Broncos/Raiders last night. There were a number of players refusing to play the ball. They were staying down on the field trying to milk penalties.
They are well enough to sit there on there knees faking it and putting on a show or the shake of the head saying come on ref but they wont play the ball. Just send them to the bin for 10 minutes for continually failing to obey a directive from the ref.
But no the NRL continues to allow it to happen.
You get an accidental light tap to the back of the head playing a contact sport at pace, lay down, the bunker will review it slow motion for the spectacle on the screen and player welfare and blah blah and you get a penalty. I bet if you slowed down every tackle, atleast a quarter or more the NRL could penalize a player on some trumped up charge. This is why players do it.
No bunker, no issue.
But thats just one example that the NRL has failed to deal with.
The bigger picture isnt even the tech, its the inconsistency and rules open to interpretation.
Ive thought for years the game has become too complex. Who'd want to be a ref?
Anyways, the NRL built it this way, there is no going back. There have been inconsistencies for years and we still seeing them every round.
I dont know what the answer to it is. But I dont get payed big dollars to sort it out.