‘Get rid of it’ – Leading NRL coach calls for drastic refereeing overhaul

Dolphins and former England coach Wayne Bennett has urged the NRL to ditch the Bunker after Sunday’s controversy.

The Dolphins saw what could have been a pivotal try ruled out controversially by the Bunker on Sunday in their 14-6 loss to Newcastle Knights, which ultimately cost them a spot in the NRL play-offs.

With the scores level in the first half, Bennett’s side saw a try chalked off by the Bunker for an obstruction in the build up as dummy runner Connelly Lemuelu collided with a Knights defender in the line before Trai Fuller slipped through a hole and touched down. Bennett believes the try should have been given, with the coach suggesting the defender had initiated contact and outlined his belief that the Bunker, which has been in place since 2016, should be ditched by the NRL.

Of course it comes as controversy continues to dominate the agenda in Super League amid gamesmanship and accusations of play acting.

“If that’s where we’re going, we’re in a fair bit of trouble in the game because that’s a try,” Bennett said about NRL officiating. “The 3 defender committed to our player, who ran the inside shoulder which he’s supposed to do and the 4 defender ran into him and they (Bunker) said we obstructed the 4 defender.

“If that’s the case, then there will be no more of those tries scored because they’ll run straight into the (lead runner) deliberately because they know they’ll get a penalty. You understand what I’m saying?

“He ran the inside shoulder line, which is the player he is supposed to run on and that player committed to him, you can see all that. But as he’s committing to him, the 4 defender also runs into him and that’s where they reckon the obstruction occurred. It’s just crazy.”

He added: “I feel sad for the teams going forward over the next four weeks in the sense that we can’t get it right and some other team will play a price for it. That’s not going to change unfortunately because they can’t get it right.

“It’s pretty clear cut. I think anyone who follows rugby league would accept that wasn’t a try. I’m not complaining about the fact we got beaten because it was a tough game, it could have went either way and both teams played their hearts out.”

Asked what the solution was regarding the Bunker, Bennett offered a drastic solution.

“I think get rid of it,” he said. “You didn’t want to hear that did you?

“The refs used to get it wrong in the past but we got on with life and we didn’t analyse it like we do today. They all know it when they sit there and watch it in the Bunker. It’s all there but they still aren’t getting it right.”