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A trio of league greats have been left baffled after the Bunker disallowed a try to Scott Sorensen in the first half of the Panthers’ clash against the Broncos.
Penrith went on to win the game 15-4 in a clinical performance with Nathan Cleary making history, becoming the youngest player to score 1,300 points, but the game wasn’t without controversy.
Sorensen thought he’d scored his team’s second try of the night in the 32nd minute after swooping onto a loose ball near the try line, but the Bunker ruled that his left hand had knocked the ball on despite replays appearing to show a clean gather.
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“If that ball’s touched the ground it’s a try,” Maroons great Paul Vautin said on Nine’s NRL coverage.
“He’s gathered that in I reckon. He gathered it into his chest, that’s not a knock on champ! You’re gathering.”
Vautin doubled down post-game, continuing to express his confusion at the decision.
Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston were also unconvinced by the ruling, with Thurston saying the Panthers were “very hard done by”.
“I thought it was a try,” Thurston said.
“He’s done a tremendous job gathering the ball in, Sorensen. He’s just picked the ball up there, no knock on in my eyes. They’re very hard done by there, the Panthers.”
“I don’t know if any of us thought that in the commentary box. It looked like he scooped that up clean,” Smith added.
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The Sorensen try was one of two Panthers tries chalked off by the Bunker in the first half as the reigning premiers took an 8-0 lead into the sheds.
Like Vautin, Thurston too doubled down post-game, continuing to express his confusion at the Bunker’s decision to disallow the Sorensen try.
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“He’s dived on the ball, I didn’t see any other movement that (would suggest) the ball has slid off his hand and travelled forward,” he said. “It’s like he’s got control the whole time there.”
The knock-on incident wasn’t the only controversial Bunker call of the night, with Broncos fullback Reece Walsh deemed to have taken out Tyrone Peachey when teammate Kotoni Staggs looked to have scored in the 62nd minute.
In a bizarre set of circumstances, the Bunker cleared the contact then went back on the decision when referee Adam Gee indicated he didn’t like the look of it.
“In the first instance, how did the dude in the Bunker get that wrong?” Vautin said passionately on Nine’s coverage.
Broncos coach Kevin Walters expressed his opposition to the call post-match.
”I thought it was a try but you win some you lose some, we’re not having a lot of a joy with the decisions at the moment but I’m OK with that,” he said.
“It was a bit weird though … I’m not sure what Reece is meant to do? He went to catch the ball, his eyes are on the ball and then what if Reece catches it? Is it a no try because he took the opposition out?
“I’m not going to bang on about that … it was a strange one, but some of our players do strange things on the field and I question what they’re doing.”
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