Ashley Klein the Aussie official involved refed over here for several season earlier in his career.

Their officials are tied down with the same silly rule as ours are, where they are instructed to guess if a try has been scored before asking the Video Ref. to investigate the incident.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Definitely grounded, but for some strange reason didn’t dwell on the footage that showed it,

This 100% is exactly what i think, don't sway the outcome, just hand it upstairs and say i'm not sure could you have a good look and let me know if it is or isn't.

and if it's inconclusive?

I'm not saying that the current protocol is ideal and there needs to be a review but I'm not sure how it can be improved Benefit of the Doubt to whom?

There are about 2 dozen cameras available for the bunker to help with decisions.
The NRL subsequently invited journalists and other interested parties to view a large screen and other camera footage which clearly showed that an arm underneath the ball stopped the ball ever touching the ground thereby justifying the decision of the bunker to rule no try.
This footage was not shown on live TV.

I am a long time Penrith fan who went to the game and also watched a replay of the incident which I also thought showed the ball being grounded. The other camera footage changed my mind and I believe has silenced people saying Melbourne were robbed of a try.

Ps. On another RL forum I tipped Melbourne to win!

Fair enough, although you would think they would show that footage to ensure there's no controversy. Strange one.

It was always BOTD to the attacker wasn't it, meaning Burgess' try on Friday would have been awarded unless they could be 100% certain it hadn't been grounded?

If they could be 100% certain, then they could have overturned the live call.

Essentially, I think with that particular try we would have just ended up complaining about the video ref rather than the on field ref. The try would have been given despite there clearly bring a lot of doubt. I personally like that there is still some onus on the match referee to make a decision.

Benefit of the doubt is always to the attacking side and that is correct. Referee should just refer it and let the video ref decide on the footage.

If possible invest in some higher quality, higher frame rate cameras.

Benefit of the doubt is very different to needing clear evidence to overturn a decision in my view. We'll never know but I think there was enough on the video to suggest - and this is a key difference between current and preferred method in my view - that in all probability it was unlikely the ball got down. The video ref wouldn't have to see the ball held up to not award the try - he's got greater ability to apply the percentages in terms of how likely it was a try was scored.

It can't be right that a ref sends a call up to the video ref when he has no idea whether it was a try or not.

....and by the way, I was in favour of this method initially as it meant the referee had to actually make a decision instead of taking the easy way out of 'sending it upstairs'. But as often happens the change caused other problems and has led (IMO) with a method that is worse than it was before. Let's have the video ref and referee communicating together to get the most accurate result, without that initial Try/No Try call.

I think it would be fair for the on-field ref to be able to send them up as try/no-try/don't know. Stick with clear evidence to overrule where the on-field ref is basically sure and just wants to rubber stamp it, and let the video ref use best judgement/apply benefit of the doubt where the on-field ref is less sure.

I'd prefer it to go upstairs without any pre-judgement (as it used to be originally) and have one central permanent video ref who does all matches, so all decisions are consistent. As it stands it's just pot luck as to what you get. It's an unprofessional farce.

Good post. I wondered if Moore could actually see the ball being grounded from where he was stood, which makes me think there should be another option for referees other than try, or no try. He could state that he's not sure and refer it to VR's call, who can then only give a try if they're in absolutely no doubt that a try has been scored.

I like the idea of a permanent video ref, for some consistency, but the problem with that is that games could no longer take place at the same time.

They've been doing this already on some nights this year. Just not for all 6 matches, We've had a central video ref in Media City (not the same one every week like I would prefer though) who gets a feed from all the different games, and refs it remotely. The only issue is that there can be a delay if two games need a decision at the same time.

Only Moore will know what he saw or more accurately (pun intended) what he thought he saw. Looking at some of the views on TV review Moore is on the far side of the potential grounding so I don't think he could see anything, I think it was a hunch.

IF there was a signal of Not Sure/No Idea I wonder what it would look like? A simple shrug has that air of 'couldn't care less' and there's enough arm waving from players protesting an infringement, I'd go with I'm a little teapot.

From the moment he (Moore) came running round for a better look I was convinced he guessed. Nothing since has changed my mind.

Why does the video ref have to be 100% certain? It just comes down to probability.

If someone is only 70% confident, but has seen the try scoring attempt multiple times, from multiple close-up angles and in slow motion, why would you then defer to someone who has seen it only once, from one angle, at a distance and in real time and with only a few seconds to make a decision?

Captains challenge is in for next season. BUT the nonsense of the try no try is still going to be here

I've been vehemently against this, but the furore around the try in the playoff has sort of put me off, because even without that rule, it'd have probably been given with benefit of the doubt.

There is no perfect system but I think I'd go with giving the ref. the option of try/no try/don't know. If he says try or no try/ ... the video ref. has to have have sufficient evidence to over-rule.
Whatever we do believe me it is better than the days without video when all sorts of awful decisions were made.

The game shouldn’t have a “I don’t know” call unless all games at all levels have the ability to review the call…
Or, SL becomes effectively a different sport than RL.

How does a ref in the championship or on a Sunday afternoon BARLA game get a decision when he calls “I don’t know”?

I'm afraid the game without cameras is a different game.
So it is reffed in a different way. I suppose lots of tries are given because "in all probability a try was scored" after consulting with the assistant refs or touch judges.
There is no perfect answer.

TBH I prefer the days of no video ref, yes you are right about shocking decisions made I have witnessed many over the years (Billy Thompson)but it was the talking point after the game. These days there is a lot more anger over decisions made by video refs because even though we can often see it he will go with the live call made by the on field ref.

You are right that there is no perfect answer but I would have at least preferred it if the video refs decision was a standalone and not driven by the on field decision. Let the video refs give is own decision.

March 13, 1983, quarter final

Warrington 4 Hull 10 (T: Phil Ford; DG: Eccles)

Attendance: 11,218

Referee Billy Thompson disallowed three tries.

That game was atrocious, crooked officiating in front of a bumper 11k crowd too.