NRL great Paul Gallen has fired up over a referee decision which the game’s head of football labelled “unacceptable”.
The Bulldogs beat the Warriors by a Matt Burton field goal in extra time on Saturday, but late in regulation time the Auckland-based team should have been given a key chance to win the game.
Canterbury forward Jaeman Salmon shot out of the defensive line to prevent Warriors playmaker Te Maire Martin attempting a field goal.
Bunker referee Adam Gee reviewed the incident but decided the contact was not high on Martin, and ruled no penalty. But Gee did not determine whether the tackle was late on the halfback, which NRL football boss Graham Annesley said it was.
“The real question is should this have been penalised on the field, and the answer to that is clearly yes, it should have been. Not because it was high but because it was late,” Annesley told media on Monday.
“I know this was at a critical part of the game. The Bunker did review the incident, but they didn’t give due regard to the issue of lateness.
“We think this is a miss by the match officials. It’s unacceptable, but that’s what took place and I wanted to make it absolutely clear with how that came about, what they were focused on and what they actually missed.”
On Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night, Gallen took aim the referees for failing to realise it was a penalty.
