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The bunker caused chaos in the Titans’ clash with the Warriors on the Gold Coast, won 20-18 by the hosts.
The first incident resulted in five-eighth Chanel Harris-Tavita being denied a try in the 17th minute, when the on-field referee awarded a four-pointer but the bunker overturned the decision after deeming he’d lost control of the ball.
Former premiership-winning Sharks coach Shane Flanagan was staggered at the bunker’s ruling.
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“They are making it hard to score tries these days. I feel that he still had control of the ball even though his hand came off it,” Flanagan said on the Fox League broadcast.
“He still had control of it with his forearm.”
Commentator Andrew Voss said Harris-Tavita was “hard done by”.
The bunker then soured the game again on the stroke of half-time, when Warriors winger Adam Pompey was awarded a try.
Warriors halfback Ash Taylor had grubbered the ball into the in-goal area and Titans winger Phillip Sami had appeared to ground the footy, before both teams made their way from the field.
But the bunker intervened and ruled that Sami had fumbled and that Pompey had grounded the ball.
That’s despite the fact that Pompey looked to have first bobbled the footy into centre Jesse Arthars, constituting a knock-on.
The referee didn’t award a try but the bunker was satisfied with Pompey’s attempted grounding, awarding him a try.
Adam Pompey pounces on a loose ball and the bunker clears it
“I think he pushes it into the leg of Sami and doesn’t get control of it,” Michael Ennis said.
“It’s not a try; he pushes it into the leg.”
Braith Anasta labelled it “a tough one” and “really close”.
“We can maybe give them the benefit of the doubt, but I would probably lean towards a no-try … Whether he grounds that ball or not is contentious.”
After looking at more angles, Ennis said the ball may have hit the turf first but questioned whether it was controlled.
“From the rear-angle (replay), it looks like it just gets pushed into the turf fractionally. But is it controlled?”.
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