“Bias refereeing” – NRL star reacts to Wigan Warriors controversial try

Wigan Warriors have beaten Penrith Panthers to become World Club Champions for the fifth time in their history in an epic battle at the DW Stadium.

Matt Peet’s side outscored the NRL champions three tries to two and kept the Panthers to nil in the second forty minutes.

After being down 12-10 at halftime it was Jake Wardle who scored the winning try but it was one with plenty of question marks over it.

Wardle cut inside off the wing and looked to be well short of the line but because referee Liam Moore had awarded the try on field it meant that the try stood.

Video referee Chris Kendall couldn’t find evidence to overturn that decision, despite television replays seeming to show that Wardle was both short and had advanced the ball twice anyway.

Controversy over the video referee came once again in the final seconds of the game when Taylan May thought he’d tied the game up with a try in the corner.

This time Liam Moore ruled ‘no try’ on field and once again Chris Kendall had nothing to overturn it.

That’s something that has massively upset Australian fans with the NRL having a different system.

“Add it to the list” – Australians fume over decisions that led to Wigan Warriors win

One former NRl player Josh Mansour was among those to react on social media as he called out “bias refereeing”.

Questioning the system he took to X, formerly Twitter, to vent his frustrations.

Mansour posted: “Bias refereeing….how does the ref award try with the angle and look from the last Wigan try and in similar circumstances award no try on Taylans effort.”

When asked about another moment of controversy, Liam Martin stripping the ball and being pulled back with Liam Moore implementing Super League rules instead of the agreed international rule, Mansour simply responded: “Add it to the list”.

Whilst there was lots of controversy it’s still a mammoth achievement for Wigan Warriors to win, becoming just the second team to have five World Club Challenge victories alongside Sydney Roosters.

Bias refereeing….how does the ref award try with the angle and look from the last Wigan try and in similar circumstances award no try on Taylans effort 🤨

— Josh Mansour (@Josh_Mansour) February 24, 2024