Tbf it's not bad if you take away the ones involving obstruction. They're ok overturning an on field try if they see a knock on or a foot in touch.....but give them an obstruction one and they'll go "umm, ahh....I don't think it's a try but it was sent up as one so I have to stick with it"

And you can usually tell when they aren't comfortable with the decision on field because they'll be the ones with the most replays. The Leeds try ruled out at Wigan, you could sense the VR wasn't sure of the refs on field call of no try otherwise he wouldn't have watched it over and over again.

And for this get rid of the VR some people suggest. Pointless if we are still airing games on TV as it won't end debates post match.

If we'd have gotten rid of the VR at the start of the year, Thaler still would've awarded that try incorrectly and people would've kicked off saying that if we'd have kept the VR that try would've been chalked off.

Now people will say that the 3/4 SL games that aren't on Sky that week manage. But then again people don't get to see several replays at slow motion when they watch highlights of the tries scored in non Sly games.

I feel for you mate.Your season finished on a disgrace decision like that.Powell should be calling for heads to roll, but nothing will happen.

Nope, Cas had a shocker of an opening quarter granted but huge credit for their spirited comeback, i was all set for switching over at 18-0 after 15 minutes!

Also, the decision was at such a key point in the game.26-24 to cas, the try is chalked off and Cas get the penalty go down field and, who knows?, finish the game off.But the try was followed up by an immediate penalty from the restart and try to Saints and a 12 point swing in 2 minutes.The fact they still got within 4 must be an absolute choker for the Cas fans, it was all on that shocker of a call too.

The on field decision is the daftest thing i've seen in RL since fat nige was in charge of us

I know we call referee's but I think we all realise that in real time, and at pace,they will make errors. we might not be happy if it affects our side but it happens. sometimes you gain through an error.
however there is no excuse for the video referee. the idea and system is good.
but when silverwood gives such a blatantly wrong decision such as last night, with the aid of countless replays, then you have to question his competence. it boils down to two two things. his competence or his neutrality. i'd like him to come out and explain his reasoning but it won't happen.

Lots of if's and but's there......if Wilkin's try was given at 18:0 then Cas are completely out of it, if Percival's try isn't disallowed then the gap is wider at the end. (I haven't watched it back on TV yet, so not 100% sure what the right calls were).

The turning point for for me was Cas's decision to go for 2 points at 24:24 all. We were rocking again at that point and leaking tries, if Cas get 6 points there it is a completely different game. As it was, Cas dropped the ball from the kick off and we scored 12 points before they touched the ball again.

Cunningham has come out and slagged off the VR system..... because it was all against Saints, couldn't make it up could you.

Ref's do not understand the playing side of the game. If you have an ex-player in charge of that decision the try would never have been given.

This is exactly what the problem is.

Anyone watching the NRL would know that this system caused chaos over there last season and yet for some reason the rfl still thought it would be a good idea to bring it to super league.

I always thought the idea of making the on field ref make an initial decision was so that - in the rare instance of the video ref being inconclusive - they would revert back to the initial call made by the on field ref.

But instead what seems to be happening is that the video ref's decision is being influenced by the initial try/no try call. So in last night's example because Ben had initially said try, a clear obstruction ended up being ignored.

No mention of on-field ref giving a try for Percival then it being disallowed when it looked like he grounded it?

Wonder why that is . . . . . . .

Someone high up at Saints needs to have a word with KC and someone desperately needs to help him learn some humility and respect. His post match rants are nothing short of embarrassing and Saints as a club have become the biggest drama queens in RL.

But last week, Child sent the Achurch dropped ball as up as no try, which was over ruled using the slow motion zoom to "prove" he had a finger nail scraping the ball on the ground. Last night, the Percival one was sent up as "try" but over ruled without using the super slow-mo zoom.....so they are clearly happy to over rule the on field referee, they just do it completely inconsistently week to week.

i thought that was a try, and obviously i'm no fan of your lot, that for me was slightly more annoying than the obstruction one.

What bothers me about VR decisions, is that they've got umpteen cameras in the grounds and for some reason they don't use them all, the percival try in example, they used the bottom(as you look at the pitch) left corner camera, and then one from behind, neither of which in my opinion showed any seperation. I can't recall them using the camera in the corner closest which is nearly front on. That gets my back up when they DON'T use all available angles.

I've thought it previously in warrington matches.

Don't know what it is about the video ref screwing over other teams for Saints. Firstly at Wakefield, then at Leeds a few week ago and now against Cas.

As for Cunningham, anyone think that he and Koukash would be a match made in heaven?

If we are going to make the on field ref guess then at least weight his decision accordingly. The VR has the benefit of multiple angles and slow motion replays so how can his analysis not carry more weight than an on field ref who has already stated he isn't sure what happened after seeing it once in real time?

You'll find the Ganson decision in the Hull Derby at magic weekend in 2013 iirc was the worst decision ever.

I think he pressed the wrong button!!
Normally when a 'Try' is to be awarded, they show the grounding. Last night i don't think they did, which suggested to everyone it was about to be called 'No Try'

I'm going to ask on Twitter, but they're such a defensive insular bunch, they'll never admit it

Ditch the VR, and lets accept the Ref's decision like the good old days. There will still be contentious arguments, there is no excuse for a VR to get it wrong

Cunningham has done that to try and deflect attention away from the massive call that went in his sides favour. Most coaches would do the same.

That's the main reason I said one of the worst.

Or how about each team gets 1 or 2 reviews like in cricket, then once there gone thats it. This way, only the really dodgy calls would be sent upstairs.

Very true. Just saying at that point when the try which shouldn't have been (and it isn't even debatable) was given it lead straight to another Saints try so the back to back killed them really. Obviously what would have happened from the penalty for obstruction at 26-24 nobody knows, but Cas should have had that opportunity.

Yeah let's create even more arbitrary nonsense. Should it be 1 call our 2? Or maybe even 3? Let's flip a coin to decide. Any decisions that the ref can't make after his quota he has to guess.

The system was much more reliable before this silly nonsense about the ref sending it up as either try or no try. As many people have already said, it's safe to assume that if he sends it to the VR, he isn't sure; so who on earth decided that it would add value to force the ref to make a decision about something that he's already decided he can't decide?

The VR is an imperfect but better than nothing system - just do away with the addition of the ref's call; it is an experiment that has demonstrably failed.

This is a good example of someone creating a narrative to suit their own agenda:

You appear to have forgotten Saints leading by 18 points and then having a scrum chalked off the board (on Cas' line) after their winger was dragged into touch.

Bad refereeing decisions? I've got a lifetime's supply of that hurt.