There have been a lot of cases where there has been an obstruction and the player taken out is nowhere near the player or a chance at getting near the ball.
Mahoney would have made contact with Johnson without a shred of a doubt.
I still think Johnson would have scored but this a total robbery based on previous decisions and the examples are endless.
Refereeing destroyed this game today for both sides.
There needs to be an investigation. There's no doubt Reed was moving towards Johnson. He had a direct play at the ball. He could of knocked it out, there's no doubt of that. Yet he was denied by Fonua Blakes NFL block play.
This was the most atrocious refereeing decision for the last 5 years. There's little doubt about that.
S42 (1) (a) (iii) clearly states... An offensive player shall not block or run into a defending player which in any way shepherds a pass or ball runner being able to be tackled by the defending player.
Time and time again we are told the rule is black and white. A dummy runner who runs the inside shoulder preventing the defender to make a play for the ballrunner, or even to slide to cover a prospective ballrunner shall not be disadvantaged and prevented from halting the progress of the ballrunner.
I trust the Head of Football at the NRL can provide an adequate explanation tomorrow of what distracted the bunker from making the correct call today. This is a very basic rule that the bunker fucked up today.
wwos.nine.com.au
