NRL: Peter V’landys backs North Queensland to retain premiership points despite Tigers’ threats

The NRL may have admitted the bunker robbed Wests Tigers of their premiership points earned against North Queensland, but Peter V’landys doesn’t support any form of restitution.

Peter V'landys can't see the Wests Tigers receiving the premiership points they were denied by the bunker.

North Queensland’s top-two hopes have received a massive boost with the NRL set to rule out stripping the Cowboys of premiership points despite legal threats from Wests Tigers over Sunday’s bunker outrage.

ARL Commission boss Peter V’landys is confident the Tigers’ gut-wrenching 27-26 loss in Townsville will not lead to a bitter courtroom dispute and has vowed to seek an urgent meeting with officials from the joint-venture club.

The Tigers will request a full report being prepared by NRL football-operations chief Graham Annesley, which will be sent to the ARL Commission for analysis.

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Peter V'landys (R) can't see the Wests Tigers receiving the premiership points they were denied by the bunker.

Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis, also a lawyer, has not ruled out litigation and believes the Cowboys should lose two competition points to Wests if an investigation shows NRL officiating processes robbed his club of victory.

But News Corp understands the result from a drama-charged afternoon at Queensland Country Bank Stadium will not be overturned by NRL bosses.

That means the Cowboys will remain in second place on 28 competition points, crucially nudging North Queensland ahead of five teams – Cronulla (26), Brisbane (26), Melbourne (24), Souths (24) and Parramatta (24) – in the battle for a top-two spot.

A place in the top two is a massive advantage because it would give the Cowboys the opportunity to play two consecutive home games in Townsville in their push for a fairytale grand-final appearance.

V’landys believes bunker official Ashley Klein erred by awarding the Cowboys a match-winning penalty after the full-time siren but said a messy legal bunfight with the Tigers is unlikely.

“I am confident it will not come to legal action,” he said.

“We will sit down and work things out with the Tigers.

“I will happily meet with Lee and Tigers officials and explain why the decisions were made.

“You can’t deny people procedural fairness and natural justice, but in my view – and this is just my personal view – it is highly unlikely the result will be reversed because it sets a terrible precedent.

“There is 80 minutes of a game – you can’t take it away because of five seconds.”

V’landys insists the controversial Captain’s Challenge is here to stay. NRL data shows there have been 361 successful challenges since the advent of the concept in 2020, with a 48 per cent success rate so far this season, up from 43pc last year.

Coen Hess and Chad Townsend are all smiles after the game. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images

“Everything is always up for review at the end of the year but you can’t make a change because of one incident,” V’landys said.

“Fifty per cent of the captain’s challenges have been successful this year which means we are correcting some wrong calls.

“From our feedback, the vast majority of rugby league fans love the captain’s challenges. Some people in the game, such as coaches or former players, don’t look at the NRL through the same lens as a fan. I am trying my hardest to look at the game through the lens of a fan.”

Asked if the Tigers were robbed, V’landys said: “This is my personal view, the captain’s challenge was probably correct if you read the rules. There was a stoppage of play and it has been done before, but the decision the bunker made was definitely incorrect.

“The bunker made a mistake and we all make mistakes.”

Hagipantelis said the Tigers have not given up hope of overturning the Cowboys result.

“I would hope if there is evidence to establish a breach of the rules such as to warrant an overturning of the decisions, we would be able to address that with the NRL and avoid litigation,” he said.

“If we can establish that what occurred, occurred following the completion of the match ... then we won the match, and Wests Tigers gets two points.”

Ashley Klein is poised to be axed for his role in the Cowboys-Tigers drama.

KLEIN TO BE AXED AFTER COWBOYS-TIGERS HOWLER

– David Riccio

Ashley Klein is set to be dropped for an officiating howler that cost the Wests Tigers victory against North Queensland on Sunday.

Klein was working as the video review official that ruled Tigers rookie AJ Kepoa had illegally escorted Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt off the ball at the conclusion of the game.

The NRL have conceded the ruling was wrong.

The NRL will announce on Tuesday the match officials for this weekend’s matches and Klein is poised to be relegated from officiating.

Originally published as NRL: Peter V’landys backs North Queensland to retain premiership points despite Tigers’ threats