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Annesley defends ref over Wighton sin-bin

3 minute read

Graham Annesley has provided some support for his officials after Canberra coach Ricky Stuart added more fuel to the flame after their win over the Warriors.

Raiders coach RICKY STUART
Raiders coach RICKY STUART Picture: Stefan Postles/Getty Images

Unperturbed by another Ricky Stuart broadside, Graham Annesley says he's "only concerned with the facts" after footage proved the call to sin-bin Canberra star Jack Wighton on Sunday was correct.

Raiders coach Stuart took aim at Annesley after his side's narrow win over the Warriors, saying they were "planets apart" when it came to rugby league.

Five-eighth Wighton was sin-binned for being offside after repeat infringements, with Stuart adamant the wrong decision had been made.

But the NRL's head of football broke down footage of the incident on Monday to show Wighton had broken his line early.

"In my view he's offside; we're talking fractions of seconds here, but fractions of seconds make a big difference," Annesley said.

"There will be plenty of people say you're kidding, but in decisions like this split seconds are important.

"You might say we're splitting hairs, but he's either onside or he's off."

The Raiders were on the wrong end of a controversial six-again call late in last year's grand-final loss to the Sydney Roosters that has since haunted the club and its fanbase.

"Ricky and I will talk and sort that out," Annesley said.

"All I'm concerned with is facts ... and I'm not just going to hang officials out to dry."

Stuart's spray came just days after NRL touch judge Phil Henderson was rotated off a fixture for failing to spot a clear no-try call in Canterbury's upset of South Sydney on Thursday.

Annesley was in the bunker for the first time all season on Thursday night to view the incident as it happened.

On Monday he played audio that revealed bunker official Henry Perenara had exclaimed "ooh, no, no, no" in an attempt to stop referee Ashley Klein from awarding the try without a review.

But his cry came too late, in a frustrating missed opportunity that followed recent changes to bunker operations after growing frustration with video refereeing decisions.

"It was almost prevented but not quite," he said.

Annesley said it was his call to remove Henderson from Saturday's game because it wasn't in his or the game's best interests "after a significant error", but that he hadn't been dropped.

"We've encouraged referees and touch judges to make their own decisions where they feel confident, but this one was a little too close for comfort."

Annesley said altering the rules to allow a try in retrospect "would be massive" but worthy of consideration for next season.

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