NRL head of football Graham Annesley will face the music on Monday afternoon after a controversial weekend of football during which coaches vented their frustrations at the referees.
Annesley has been rightly applauded for this year fronting the media on a weekly basis in an attempt to introduce transparency around the game’s rules and officials.
But he faces one of his toughest grillings of the year after a string of contentious calls that raised questions about the whistleblowers.
The Warriors are up in arms after Gerard Beale was denied what appeared to be the match-winning try with three minutes to go, only for the play to be called back because a Roger Tuivasa-Sheck flick pass was called forward.
Replays suggested the ball went backwards out of the reigning Dally M medallist’s hands.
Parramatta went on to win the match 24-22 and it prompted Warriors CEO Cameron George to call for fans to attend Friday’s match against Canberra at Mt Smart Stadium dressed as referees.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson threw his support behind a frustrated Stephen Kearney after Cooper Cronk was denied a try because of a James Tedesco forward pass that he insisted was backwards.
“I thought that was back to Cooper,” Robinson said.
“I think they’re being really pedantic on forward passes. You’ve got to be sure. If you’re unsure, let the play keep going.
“It’s not about the refs today – we’re seeing it every weekend for months and months and months. I think they’ve overcorrected.”
Warriors coach Kearney was also seething after Chanel Harris-Tavita was penalised for a strip on Dylan Brown despite teammate Adam Blair peeling off the tackle.
Last year the NRL changed the strip interpretation so that a player can make a one-on-one strip even if there was previously more than one defender in the the tackle.
Annesley will also have to answer accusations of inconsistency from the match review committee after Manly’s Jake Trbojevic escaped suspension for a lifting tackle on Melbourne’s Jahrome Hughes.
Because he was only hit with a grade one, he will be free to take on Newcastle on Saturday.
However, the tackle has been compared to that of Warriors hooker Issac Luke’s on Dylan Brown, who was hit with a grade two charges and is facing two to three weeks out.
A fortnight ago, Canberra’s Nick Cotric was rubbed out for three weeks for a grade three lifting tackle on Tim Lafai.
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said the MRC got the Trbojevic grading right but Cotric was slugged with too harsh of a penalty.
“I personally think the match review committee got that one right with Jake and and they got Nick Cotric’s dreadfully wrong and they were both the same tackles,” Stuart said.