Roosters coach Trent Robinson has summed up the rugby league world’s reaction to Joey Manu’s controversial disallowed try in their defeat to the Panthers, shrugging his shoulders in a confused manner.
Manu’s first half try was disallowed after prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was ruled to have obstructed fullback Dylan Edwards from attempting a cover tackle.
That was despite the fact he was at least 20 metres away from the ball, stunning Fox League’s Andrew Voss who said: “That can’t be what we’ve written the rule for surely”.
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Meanwhile, the Panthers were also awarded a try that saw a similar obstruction take place, with Liam Martin stopping Sitili Tupouniua from sweeping across the field.
When asked in the post-match press conference what he thought of the obstruction decision, Robinson replied “What did everyone think?”
“Jared was a metre or two in front of the line, he also had to run around the referee which changed his angle… and then he runs in,” Robinson said.
“It’s a bit like Sitili got knocked over in our one, and was he going to save the try? No, he wasn’t on Turuva when he scored in the corner.
“And I don’t think he (Edwards) would have got there either on Joey Manu, but anyway.
“What we are asking is was Luke or Sitili going to get there? Or was Edwards going to get there? Or is it the rule on the obstruction?
“I feel like there was two different rulings, in that case one was given, yeah it was an obstruction but one was given the benefit of the doubt.
“It was a pretty big play there but in the end they were the better team by far.”
Robinson was then asked if he had any concerns with the NRL’s officiating of the obstruction rulings and his opinion of the Sea Eagles’ controversial stripped try in Round 3.
With the game on the line against the Eels, Jake Trbojevic was deemed to have obstructed Parramatta forward Luca Moretti, having stopped in the defensive line.
“Look I don’t want to blow it out of proportion too much, but sometimes they are black and white with their decisions,” Robinson said.
“And sometimes they’ve got the decision-making component and it varies when they apply it. They were black and white with the obstruction, because Edwards changes his line too.
“They were black and white with the obstruction call, then with the (Roosters) one they leave it to interpretation.
“I don’t think we get it that wrong to be honest, there are highlights because we scrutinise them, but it didn’t fall our way tonight.”
James Tedesco also weighed in on the controversial call, explaining: “I was surprised we’d even looked at a player being taken out 20 metres away from the ball.
“If I’m at fullback it’s pretty hard to get there… it would have been nice to have two tries in the first half.”
Originally published as Trent Robinson left fuming after obstruction controversy erupts
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