Smith calls for NRL to ‘reinvest’ Bunker money elsewhere
It was almost a week ago, and they’re still going on about it.
The controversy over Bradman Best’s try in the State of Origin decider is apparently still rubbing Cameron Smith and Paul Gallen the wrong way.
Jack Bostock touches the ball in the air. Nine
Replays showed Jack Bostock appeared to knock the ball on in the lead-up to the try, but the Bunker ruled it a four-pointer.
Post-match Smith argued the Bunker should be “flicked” if it can’t get slow-motion replays right, especially at a reported cost of $2-3 million per season.
He explained on 100% Footy, the funds used for the bunker should be diverted elsewhere, and the game should revert to one video referee like the old days.
The NRL introduced the video referee in 1998 following the success of it in the Super League the year before. However, it was replaced by the Bunker in 2016.
“Let’s reinvest that back into junior rugby league or money out in the bush and take it back to the old days when the video ref, not the Bunker, the video ref, sat in a little room, looked at a screen next to the commentary box and made decisions,” Smith said.
Gallen agreed the decision last week by the Bunker was incorrect, yet argued completely scrapping video technology is unrealistic and pointed out instances where Queensland had directly benefited from mistakes in officiating in the past.
“I remember a time back in 2012 where Greg Inglis dropped the ball over the try line and it was given a try to decide the match,” Gallen said on 100% Footy.
“And then I remember a decider, where Justin Hodges scored a try off a shepherd, and they beat us by one point. Not 18 like Queensland were beaten by (last week).
“So what goes around, comes around, get that up you Queensland, we won.”
Pre-2016, the video referee used to sit alone in a box at the game, but fan backlash over officiating and inconsistency led to the shift after the 2015 season.
The next year the NRL centralised the operation from one location away from the ground, giving officials access to simultaneous views of multiple camera angles and a dedicated fibre network directly connected to every NRL stadium.
The move also gave fans clear explanations on decisions made in the game.
Gallen disagreed with axing the Bunker in favour of one official.
“We can’t get rid of it because these days everything is on the phone. As soon as the game finishes, every single replay’s on the phone right there,” he said.
“It’s too accessible for people these days.
“So they need a bunker there to get the majority of the decisions right. While we have human beings involved, there’ll always be some sort of human error, which there was the other night.”
