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It had no bearing on the fight for finals footy, but a bunker decision late in the Broncos‘ 24-22 win over the Warriors left the rugby league world bamboozled.
Teen Warriors fullback Reece Walsh threaded a grubber into the in-goal area on the left edge in the 78th minute, before New Zealand centre Euan Aitken and Brisbane winger Xavier Coates rushed to ground the ball.
But after Aitken tried to ground the ball for a try and Coates tried to ground the footy to force a goal-line drop-out, it was impossible to know from the live scenes who had won the race.
Referee Matt Cecchin’s soft call was no try as he referred the decision to bunker official Henry Perenara.
As replays began to roll through, it didn’t take long for Nine commentator Peter Psaltis and rugby league legend Brad Fittler to be convinced that Coates had grounded the ball.
“What a play by Coates,” Psaltis said.
Fittler added: “I reckon that’s definitely the right hand of Xavier Coates.”
NRL Highlights: The Broncos survive a late surge by the Warriors in a thriller – Round 23
But Psaltis and Fittler were then left dumbfounded as Perenara revealed his decision, declaring Aitken had grounded the ball.
“What! Call in the forensics,” Psaltis said.
“I didn’t even see where Euan Aitken’s hand was. You could see Xavier Coates’ giant hand on the ball! Where’s Euan Aitken’s hand?”
While Psaltis and Fittler had no doubt Coates had grounded the ball, rugby league icon Billy Slater remained undecided.
“Even after the … replay we’re no clearer on who scored the try,” Slater said.
After being awarded the try in controversial circumstances, the Warriors had a chance to level the scores through a Walsh conversion.
But the former Bronco failed to add the extras and the Warriors lost the game, dashing their hopes of making a late run for the finals.
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