I’m not convinced the evidence was clear. Was there a Salford hand involved?

He lost control of the ball, the ball was clearly out of his grasp and on the ground. This isn’t a situation where he just needs downward pressure, he needs to be in control of the ball and obviously wasn’t even if only for a short time.
A Salford hand was around the ball but that doesn’t mean it was a strip. The ball carrier needs to hang on to it and he didn’t.
It was a knock on. For some reason the video ref didn’t give it.
You can tell it was a knock on because even Cummings thought it was and he usually backs the refs to the hilt.

Knock on all day long and all night long !!! If a ball rolls like that, control was lost.

Id be cheesed off if Leigh was the victim of such a decision, especially a VR one !!!

Where was Hicks when you need him.

They do in the NRL! 2 try decisions correctly changed in the games yesterday after the ref had sent them for video review.

Brilliant Saints v Salford game. As already posted the game was lost by 2 major errors in the final minutes. The Inu short kick re-start and the Griffith stupid flop which gave Saints great momentum and resulted in 12 points.

Re the VR decision I believe the referee's call should have been overturned.

Probably phoning child,telling him it's a try.

I'm rapidly losing fair with the officiating to the modern game, here's 4 pages with fans venting their spleen on how the decisions given in last nights game was missed,

lets take the two easily seen incidents that was so obvious and nothing was done about it, head high tackle that was shamefully missed and how clear does need to be for the ref, I personally don't want the physicality to be taken out of the game but that was a full swipe to the head,

as the the moving ball we have problem that having given the try they have to look for a reason not to, on evidence I said it would be given and there was any to give otherwise,
we seem to have lost control of the rules where at one time you had to have an hand on the ball it now can be a little finger or even the forearm.

when decisions go against you like this against a top side and cost you the game in no wonder it infuriates fans, now comes the labeling your always moaning about refs

great game Saints are not way ahead of the rest of the pack as it may seem on points as it was shown to ship in so many points showed a weakness as most other teams do, it does show that you put the effort in you can break the best of sides, great to see Salford prove to Jean who had you as bottom of the table team

fantastic come back from both teams I wanted it go to extra time shame it didn't

Good game to watch, was in Salford’s hands and they blew it. I appreciate what is said about the VR decision, I’m not convinced that there was enough to over turn it. The short kick off and the flop were the real issues. Having said all that how the head shot wasn’t given is a mystery.
On another point how can a player score a hat trick and have been so underwhelming?

Phew. I will take that.

For those saying get rid of the VR then it would have been a try.

Someone said forget about the mistakes the players make it was all down to that one VR error. This is wrong. The errors by players in the previous 80 minutes all contribute to the final score with equal effect. If that error happens but saints players don't make a shocking amount of mis tackles it's irrelevant.

Similarly if Salford don't make errors like the flop and the short kick off the last decision is irrelevant to the outcome.

I hate these vent your spleen at the ref threads as they put too much focus on one error forgetting all other errors.

I would love for an AI ref and wait for fans to vent their spleen that the game is so stop start as there will be multiple stoppages as every play the ball is penalised for incorrectly playing the ball or offside.

Then it will be bring back the humans as the robots are wrecking the game by applying the rules.

It was a bad call but given the ref framework they have to follow its understandable.

Well we are 'way ahead' of your mob who yet again can't even get a result against London.

we tried to a stains come back but left too late and we didn't have a ref that would allow a knock on try too

To be fair, he was right in what he said. We got lucky because the officials are absolute laughable. That was no try at the end. I would love to know in what basis the try was given

Why the hell did Salford do that ridiculous short kick off when we'd got it back to 20-30?? We got easy yards and scored in that set. There was absolutely no need to that in that situation. Can't recall who did it be he certainly wants bollocking. They've only themselves to blame for me.

I'm not exactly sure he meant to do it tbh.
It was Inu and he had just been on the deck with a very nasty eye injury that he couldn't see out of. Hastings was all set to take it but he ran back and took it himself. He also has a penchant for kicking it out on the full so I reckon he put a bit less on it....

That was a cracking game - had pretty much everything, and was super entertaining for the neutral.

With regards the non-try though - when two teams have put so much effort and guts into performances of that standard, it's heartbreaking that the result is decided by a VR decision that was quite clearly, without any shadow of doubt, plain wrong; Mr Child, like every other person watching the game, could see that he lost control of the ball - so why not just say, "nope - he's lost that - I'm overturning the on-field decision?"

My view, long held, is that having the on-field ref make a call (guess) on an incident which, by virtue of sending it upstairs, he's already admitting he didn't see - fundamentally alters the mechanic of the VR review system; the VR will naturally veer away from contradicting his fellow ref, so we end up with blatantly unfair results like that, which could have a serious impact on the finishing position of the team on the wrong end of it.

Shameful that one of the most exciting games of the season, was decided on a self-evidently erroneous VR decision. Hard lines Salford.

It would not have decided anything if mistakes from players had not let saints back into the game. Yet the players get a free ride whilst refs get it in the neck. Shock horror.

No clear evidence of a knock on though , ball left the hand (via interference from Griffin) but the ball was still in contact with the forearm with momentum. Tries can be scored by hand, wrist and forearm etc etc. I suspect the video ref gave that as benefit of the doubt try due to the on field call. Also watch it at normal speed and you can see why the on field call was a try because you can't see daylight between ball and hand/arm.

Saints should have had an extra 2 points as well, Coote's conversion attempt on the 3 rd try went above and between the upright sticks.

Lastly, great performance by Salford they did more than enough to win the game and over the 80 mins deserved something, but "Don't Write off the Saints".

Yes - that's sport isn't it - people do things, some of which works and some of which doesn't; and sometimes they make an error. They don't make an error in leisurely time though, with 8 super slo-mo HD replays, and a copy of the rule book in front of them.

You'll be relieved to have won and I get that - but it wasn't a try.

Child going AWOL is all anyone needs to know about that man, what exactly was he doing when Lussick had his head taken off ? had he popped out of the video booth or just covered his eyes ? even Cummins was surprised about his non-intervention. I'm nearing F-ck Rugby League.

I thought that would have been picked up by the disciplinary got clattered around the forehead.

EDIT: Caught with open hand, penalty sufficient.

Except the ref didn't give a penalty.....
Anyway I'm over it now. Just...
Shame really as our squad appears to be being systematically dismantled due to our financial problems that was our last chance to topple them at theirs for a long time.

It seems the disciplinary panel are as inept as Child there wasn't even a penalty awarded. Wow

Thought Salford were a nicely balanced side, a good backline and a hard working pack just need a bit more performance consistency perhaps. Play any other team and there was going to be a win all over it, on that team performance salford should be a top 5 side still plenty of games left to make that happen.

I've no argument with it not being a try. My issue is everyone pinning a win or a lose on 1 element of a game out of the whole 80 minutes.

As for the rule book. That's the problem the ref is constrained by the rules.

Its not beyond reason to think that if saints had been denied that they would not have got another opportunity. The goal kick took the full minute and the play the balls were pedestrian.

Either way Salford did enough to win but that's not always the way it works out.