What an absolute clownfest!Butler was a disgrace.Gaffe after gaffe after gaffe,and culminating in the greatest howler of a decision seen this season,and possibly since the inception of the bunker.The other clown in this fiasco was none other than Ashley Klein,whose intervention proves that these guys are at best out of their depth.
You don’t like to bash officialdom,but that outcome was grand larceny,and looking for ANY reason to deny,rather than objective,merit based outcome.As soon as Laurie takes the ball it should be game over.
What an insult.What a circus!
Outside of the ending, a few thoughts.
When the forwards made ground we looked dangerous. Nu > Hastings > Brooks > (Kelma, Laurie, Naden) to the left looked very strong today.
Laurie was outstanding today. Ran hard, backed up, was great under the high ball and solid in defence.
I'd rather Liddle or Simpkin over Peachy (who looks to be carrying a spare tyre). We faltered when he came on.
Seyfarth has been underwhelming but did make a crucial tackle at one point (can't remember who it was).
T'oa and AD shouldn't be defending together. Our right side defence has been worse since Nofo's been away. They both run out of the line at the wrong time and are slow to recover. AD's lack of fitness is showing but sometimes he looks very lazy when beaten.
AJ was good but, like T'oa and AD, had a shocking read which led to a try.
Ken's sin-bin was atrocious and just reaffirms my thoughts they need to look at the rulings again.
Drinkwater had a shocker - he was kept us in it on several occasions.
Outside of the ending, a few thoughts.
When the forwards made ground we looked dangerous. Nu > Hastings > Brooks > (Kelma, Laurie, Naden) to the left looked very strong today.
Laurie was outstanding today. Ran hard, backed up, was great under the high ball and solid in defence.
I'd rather Liddle or Simpkin over Peachy (who looks to be carrying a spare tyre). We faltered when he came on.
Seyfarth has been underwhelming but did make a crucial tackle at one point (can't remember who it was).
T'oa and AD shouldn't be defending together. Our right side defence has been worse since Nofo's been away. They both run out of the line at the wrong time and are slow to recover. AD's lack of fitness is showing but sometimes he looks very lazy when beaten.
AJ was good but, like T'oa and AD, had a shocking read which led to a try.
Ken's sin-bin was atrocious and just reaffirms my thoughts they need to look at the rulings again.
Drinkwater had a shocker - he was kept us in it on several occasions.
Big difference today for me was the second phase play. It did my head in for 3.5yrs watching Madgeball one out football without any offloading. If this is the new Sheens era I am all for it.
I just saw on FB Sportsbet are refunding head to head bets on Tigers' game. Maybe they could sue the NRL for negligence.
1. How was there one second left? The game should have finished at the Doeuhi’s kick;
2. They cannot challenge when the referee hasn’t made a decision to challenge. That is why it is called a challenge;
3. Kepoa has eyes for the ball, the players simply collide;
4. In the context of the game, how does such a decision make sense? At best Feldt contests the ball with Laurie, is he catching the ball and scoring a try? Is he catching the ball, evading tackles, passing the ball for a field goal?
It is the last play of the game, the ball is 30m from the tryline, it is a 50/50 call at best. Tell me how that call deserves a penalty to win the game.
The referees lack the ability to provide context their decisions have on a game. Take the Maumalo decision. Earlier in the game Maumalo is hit high, sent to HIA but the offender remains on field. Yet Maumalo get 10 in the bin for a high shot, despite the player not requiring HIA. An decision which changes the game without any consideration to how the punishment connects with the context of the game.
Beyond farce.
Outside of the ending, a few thoughts.
When the forwards made ground we looked dangerous. Nu > Hastings > Brooks > (Kelma, Laurie, Naden) to the left looked very strong today.
Laurie was outstanding today. Ran hard, backed up, was great under the high ball and solid in defence.
I'd rather Liddle or Simpkin over Peachy (who looks to be carrying a spare tyre). We faltered when he came on.
Seyfarth has been underwhelming but did make a crucial tackle at one point (can't remember who it was).
T'oa and AD shouldn't be defending together. Our right side defence has been worse since Nofo's been away. They both run out of the line at the wrong time and are slow to recover. AD's lack of fitness is showing but sometimes he looks very lazy when beaten.
AJ was good but, like T'oa and AD, had a shocking read which led to a try.
Ken's sin-bin was atrocious and just reaffirms my thoughts they need to look at the rulings again.
Drinkwater had a shocker - he was kept us in it on several occasions.
Big difference today for me was the second phase play. It did my head in for 3.5yrs watching Madgeball one out football without any offloading. If this is the new Sheens era I am all for it.
Absolutely, it was a breakout match for our new style and that is exciting. For the first time in a couple of years we looked like we had some energy!
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
https://twitter.com/triplem_nrl/status/1551134454122704896?s=21&t=cxlSFsjfviBqv-tNxiRA8Q
Thanks Jammer!! Agree
Top 8 2023
‘Outraged’ Tigers look at grounds for appeal after last-second Bunker call
Fired-up Wests Tigers officials want two competition points and have told the NRL they will “explore all options” after they were denied victory in the dying seconds of Sunday’s game against the Cowboys.
The Wests Tigers are fuming over the series of decisions that cost them the game, with the joint venture now looking at their legal options. The club is yet to determine whether they have grounds to an appeal which would force the NRL to overturn the result and hand the club two competition points.
The Tigers had the game taken from them after the siren when the Cowboys were handed a controversial penalty.
“We are outraged by the decision. We are exploring all options available to us,” Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis told the Herald.
“I have spoken to Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo and expressed my concerns in the strongest possible terms. We are considering all options available to us, including any legal options that may be available to us to challenge the decision that led to the ultimate result.
“We owe it to our fans and members and also to our players to ensure we voice these concerns in the strongest possible terms.”
The NRL was in damage control on Sunday night with seething Tigers officials seeking answers after the Cowboys were awarded a contentious penalty by the bunker for Asu Kepaoa allegedly running Kyle Feldt off the ball from a kick-off with one second remaining on the clock.
They are arguing “the game was over” and the result at the time of the referee blowing the whistle was a victory to the visitors.
The Tigers are also questioning why the Cowboys were allowed to challenge a decision when there wasn’t a stoppage in play - and if there was a stoppage it was for the end of the match.
“We’ve gone to V’landys, we’ve gone to Abdo, we’ve gone to [NRL head of football Graham] Annesley and we want answers and we reserve our right,” Pascoe said.
“Until we get those answers, then we will make a decision but we will explore all options. My understanding is that you can only challenge a decision if a decision has been made. There was no decision made.
“Both Lee and I owe it to the coaches and the players who have worked their arse off to get to this point. To have it finish the way it finished we owe it to our fans, to everyone, to follow it through and get an understanding why the decision was made.”
The NRL has privately conceded the bunker decision to penalise Kepaoa may have been the wrong call.
An NRL spokesperson said: “The captain’s challenge was permissible in these circumstances. The captain can challenge decisions by the referee to stop the play.”
“Although the referee had blown his whistle to stop the game after the last tackle was completed as time had expired, he had not yet called full-time. The whole concept of the captain’s challenge is to make sure any decision by the referee that stops the game can be reviewed. To not do so would effectively deny a team the right to have an officiating error corrected on the last play of a game just because time had expired.
“There are multiple examples of games continuing after time has expired following an infringement. These include incidences of foul play or other penalisable rule breaches. The obstruction decision itself will be reviewed as a matter of course on Monday.”
Deflated Wests Tigers stand-in coach Ben Gardiner said “the game was over” before the bunker intervened to gift North Queensland a great escape in a finish that left rival coach Todd Payten to admit “we got one tonight”.
Valentine Holmes booted a match-winning penalty goal after the siren after being awarded the controversial penalty from bunker official Ashley Klein to secure the 27-26 win at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
The Tigers looked as though they had pulled off a stunning upset after they scored two tries in the final six minutes to reclaim the lead before disaster struck.
The Cowboys kicked off with one second remaining, and the ball was fielded by Tigers fullback Daine Laurie before he was tackled. North Queensland called for a captain’s challenge, believing Feldt had impeded by Kepaoa. Klein told referee Chris Butler to award a penalty to the Cowboys, leaving Tigers players and commentators in disbelief.
Kepaoa was running towards the ball after the kick-off and had no eyes for Feldt before the pair collided.
“It was a moment of elation and a moment of deflation. I felt I wasn’t quite sure on why the decision was made,” Gardiner said after standing in for COVID-hit Tigers coach Brett Kimmorley on game day.
“My understanding is when the Bunker comes into play when there is a challenge made, it has to be when there is an indiscretion in the play, when there is a breakdown in the play. My understanding is we caught the ball, the game was over, and that’s where it should have ended.
“I’ve been around coaching for a long time and you can get upset, you can complain, you can do all those sorts of things, but it doesn’t change anything. It was a moment of deflation, that’s for sure.”
Payten and Cowboys skipper Chad Townsend both believe there was a break in play which allowed a captain’s challenge to be taken, but the coach concedes it was “debatable” when asked if his side deserved the win.
“If I look back at the season gone so far, we had a try taken off us last week which was huge. Even back in round one, Hamiso [Tabuai-Fidow] got a try taken off him with a couple of minutes to go which cost us a game,” Payten said. “What goes around comes around, we got one tonight. We got a call at the end.”
Townsend echoed the sentiment, saying “Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. Tonight we got one.”
A Change.org petition demanding the result be changed had almost 1500 signatures by 8.45pm on Sunday night but for now the Cowboys have secured their place in the top two, eight points behind a Penrith powerhouse so many see as unstoppable.
Just watched the presser.
Ben Gardiner is very impressive!
I hope we keep him at WT - and mentor him to take head coach - as backup from Benji
I disagree. Im sure he is a great bloke but that was not the time for "oh well things happen" smiles. It is time to draw a line in the sand and demand changes. We were blatantly robbed by incompetence or flat out corruption and "Oh well" doesnt cut it.
https://twitter.com/triplem_nrl/status/1551134454122704896?s=21&t=cxlSFsjfviBqv-tNxiRA8Q
I don’t think I’ve heard a commentator use such strong language (balaclava, sawn off shot gun etc etc). Can’t blame him though.
Just watched the presser.
Ben Gardiner is very impressive!
I hope we keep him at WT - and mentor him to take head coach - as backup from Benji
I disagree. Im sure he is a great bloke but that was not the time or "oh well things happen" smiles. It is time to draw a line in the sand and demand changes. We were blatantly robbed by incompetence or flat out corruption and "Oh well" doesnt cut it.
I agree, I would of liked him to show a bit more anger, at least on behalf of the fans
But it's a bit hard for a stand in assistant coach to demand changes from nrl.
Top 8 2023
Tamou had high praise for Gardiner, Cayless and Noddy since they had taken over. I wonder if this was a sleight on Madge?
I read the club wants to keep Gardiner but I am not sure there’s a role for him after “jobs for the boys” were handed out.
Just watched the presser.
Ben Gardiner is very impressive!
I hope we keep him at WT - and mentor him to take head coach - as backup from Benji
I disagree. Im sure he is a great bloke but that was not the time for "oh well things happen" smiles. It is time to draw a line in the sand and demand changes. We were blatantly robbed by incompetence or flat out corruption and "Oh well" doesnt cut it.
It’s his 1st presser, he was very professional and spoke really well, no need to go off your head like a cry baby ie Stuart, Toovey, Hasler
Just watched the presser.
Ben Gardiner is very impressive!
I hope we keep him at WT - and mentor him to take head coach - as backup from Benji
I disagree. Im sure he is a great bloke but that was not the time for "oh well things happen" smiles. It is time to draw a line in the sand and demand changes. We were blatantly robbed by incompetence or flat out corruption and "Oh well" doesnt cut it.
It’s his 1st presser, he was very professional and spoke really well, no need to go off your head like a cry baby ie Stuart, Toovey, Hasler
When exactly would the circumstances be correct to show some dissatisfaction with the officiating if not tonight?
