EVANS TRY WAS RIGHT CALL, SYSTEM IS WRONG

Those saying Kane Evans didn’t get the football to the line in the Sydney Roosters’ win over Canterbury-Bankstown on Friday night may have an argument. The problem is, with the system the way it is, the right call was made. Despite the referee being literally half a metre away from the play, the decision was a try when he went upstairs and the video referee didn’t have sufficient evidence to overturn it.

At the end of the day Canterbury didn’t deserve the win. They missed dozens of tackles and the Roosters eventually ran rough shot.

But if that try isn’t given, the following Roger Tuivasa-Sheck try doesn’t happen either.

The better team won on the night yet Bulldogs fans still, quite rightfully, are shaking their heads at this stupid system.

WALKING OFF THE MARK

It’s not a big thing in the scheme of a broken system and I can’t believe it has come to this but why can’t referees just let players play-the-ball?! If a player wants to walk off the mark, he only shortens the defensive line for the opposition, thus penalising his own team. We don’t need referees stopping the play time after time just to send a player back half a metre.

THIS IS THE NATIONAL RUGBY LEAGUE RIGHT?

Here it comes again. The world is ending if there isn’t a Sydney team in the grand final. This is the National Rugby League and from a growth and expansion standpoint, who cares if the Sydney Roosters don’t get there?

So what if Channel Nine lose a few viewers from the Sydney market on the big night. Think about the tourism industry and the money that comes into the city. We have to stop thinking inward and accept the future. One day Perth, Adelaide, Wellington and others will be in the NRL. What then?

On another note, the grand final should always be played in Sydney. ANZ Stadium is our Roman Coliseum and players and fans alike know that this is where you come to watch the decider on the first weekend in October.

JETS ONE WIN AWAY FROM NATIONAL AUDIENCE

The Walker boys’ Ipswich Jets are into the Intrust Super Cup Grand Final and are now only one win away from a date with the VB NSW Cup champions at ANZ Stadium on NRL Grand Final day after beating PNG Hunters 28-12. Unless you’re a Townsville Blackhawks fan, almost everyone would love to see the entertainers on the big stage.

SPIDER CAM, HEAD CAM, BUNKER CAM, WHO GIVES A CAM?

Next is the ‘Head Cam’. Apparently putting a camera on the referee’s heads will help with the decision-making process. Let’s just replace the referees with drones and have fifty blokes in a bunker and they can decide everything from there. We can have a million cameras out there but if the process is wrong then what’s the point?

NSWRL GRAND FINAL DAY THIS SUNDAY

I had the privilege of calling the Mounties/Newcastle preliminary final on Sunday at Leichhardt Oval where the Knights went through and will face Wyong Roos at Pirtek Stadium this weekend. Both teams deserve to be there and it should be a cracking “local derby” decider. You can hear it all on radiohub.com.au this Sunday with the Steele Sports team where you can follow the live calls of the VB NSW Cup, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield.

Speaking of last Sunday’s action at Leichhardt, it was great to see so many NRL identities out supporting the lower grade. Amongst others were Trent Robinson, Des Hasler, Chris Anderson, Mick Crocker, James Graham, Paul Sironen, Michael Hagan and Josh Reynolds.

@curtiswoodward1