I was barracking for the Broncos, but I reckon Raiders were robbed.
So many nitpicky little decisions that drastically changed the outcome over what would have been ignored or missed in the past or simply left to play on in the spirit of the game. Piss the video refs off, they’re ruining the game. It’s like a game of “akshually…” not football anymore.
Better yet - maybe something like increasing the number of challenges (to say three each?) and ref can’t call on the video at all anymore. Make it part of strategy instead of the default fall back.
As a neutral, it was a great game to watch.
If I was a Raiders fan, I’d be furious.
But as a Roosters supporter, I can’t put it ahead of the 2010 qualy final vs Tigers
I’m a Tiger’s fan.
I was at that game.
The devastation was real.
I can’t say I noticed too many issues with the reffing. There were a couple of bad calls, but I think they went both ways. At the critical moments, the call always seemed to go the right way.
It’s not that I’m claiming biase or anything, it’s just that it really stalls the flow of the game when we’re stopping to review every little play.
It’s going to end up like American football where there’s 14 seconds of action followed by 30 minutes of discussion about it.
Title is extremely sensationalistic, but genuinely, I think the answer might be yes. Not the highest quality game of all time, but for sheer drama value it’s hard to beat. You could not write fiction any more dramatically than this match.
- One player from each team sent off
- One more player from Brisbane sent off like 2 minutes later
- Raiders ahead 28–20 with 11 minutes to go
- 7 minutes to go, Broncos score, 28–26
- 3 minutes to go, Broncos attempt field goal from 40 out. It hits the crossbar and misses.
- Broncos attempt a field goal from 40 out right on the buzzer. A successful chargedown and it misses. Game over, Broncos lose.
- But wait. Video ref takes a look, and it was illegal contact to the kicker’s foot. Broncos get a penalty kick from right in front of the goal, which they obviously make. 28–28.
- Two 5-minute periods of extra time. Multiple attempts to score a try, some disguised as being set-ups for field goal attempts.
- Some actual attempts at a field goal, especially near the end.
- Ultimately, no scores during extra time.
- Into Golden Point. Next score wins.
- 93rd minute: Raiders kick high, chase, recover the ball and score a try. Game over, Broncos lose.
- Long delay here. It’s like 2 minutes of thinking that yup, Raiders win. After 2 painful minutes of deliberating privately, the ref comes back and says “wait, we’re looking into this”.
- Video ref takes a closer look, and it seems quite clear: the Raiders player juggled the ball into a Bronco while catching the ball. That’s a knock on. No try.
- 94th minute: Broncos score a field goal from 39 metres out. Broncos win 28–29
