NRL admits Bunker's misjudgement after Ivan Cleary's scathing criticism over obstruction call

NRL head of football Graham Annesley has admitted the Bunker misjudged an obstruction call between Siosifa Talakai and Luke Garner, which Ivan Cleary called "terrible".

Cleary launched a scathing attack on Chris Butler, calling out the Bunker official for his decision in Saturday night's prelim final.

Penrith booked a spot in a fifth-straight NRL decider with a comprehensive 26-6 win over the Sharks, but it didn't come without some controversy.

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In the second half, Sunia Turuva looked to have scored in the corner, only for on-field referee Ashley Klein to send it upstairs for a potential obstruction.

Replays showed centre Talakai had been bundled over in the lead-up, but it appeared as though there was no illegality from Penrith's end.

Butler disagreed however, overturning the try and moments later, Cronulla scored down the other end of the field to narrow the margin to four points.

"That is so wrong," Phil Gould said on Nine.

While his side eventually proved too strong for the Sharks, that didn't stop Cleary from going on a passionate tirade post-game about the state of officiating in the NRL.

"The only time they scored, we should have scored two sets before that and it was an obstruction that was a terrible decision," he said in a press conference.

"That gives me a lot of anxiety around next week, if that Bunker official [is there]. I think it was Chris Butler - I shouldn't say that, but that was wrong and it's been happening all year. They shouldn't have even scored, they shouldn't have even been down there.

"We ran the play perfectly, ran to his inside shoulder and Sifa actually initiated contact.

"That worries me about next week, if that same Bunker official or someone else is going off that same script … I'm concerned."

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Speaking during his weekly media briefing, Annesley admitted Talakai wouldn't have been able to get to Turuva.

"In my view the Bunker has misjudged this and I think this try should've been upheld," he said.

Annesley did however say there's a responsibility on the attacking team to avoid contact with the defence.

The NRL boss didn't confirm or deny Butler would be appointed for the grand final.

During his press conference, Cleary then went on to back up comments made by Wayne Bennett, who has been highly critical of the Bunker and its interpretations of obstruction calls.

"I'd like to think that I don't talk about referees or Bunkers or things that we can't control - but when Wayne Bennett, the best of all-time came out and said after their game against Newcastle, he was 100 per cent right," the Panthers coach continued.

"He said someone is gonna suffer in the finals and we got through it obviously, but it was just terrible. There is no understanding of what we are trying to do.

"Sifa got taken off straight after because Fitzy [Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon] knew how fatigued he was and I think that says it all.

"I know we got through the game tonight, but next week in the biggest game of the year and I'd hate for something like that to happen."

Quizzed over whether he'd raise the issue with NRL head of football Graham Annesley, the premiership-winning coach put the onus back on the officials once again. 

"No - they've got to work it out," Cleary said.

"It's a big call for Graham, I don't know if Graham makes the selection on who is in the Bunker, but whoever is in there needs to understand what we are trying to do.

"There's a lot of referees not reffing next week, some of the best in the game, so surely someone can work that out."