Referees boss Bernie Sutton admits the Bunker did not know touch judge had raised his flag ahead of Sione Katoa try

REFEREES boss Bernie Sutton has made the extraordinary revelation that the Bunker did not know the touch judge had raised his flag in the lead up to the Sione Katoa try.

sf asdf daf daf adf adf dasda

BESIEGED referees boss Bernie Sutton has made the extraordinary revelation that the bunker did not know touch judge Ricky MacFarlane had raised his flag in the lead-up to the shocking Cronulla try on Friday night.

The blame has been lumped on MacFarlane, who had a brain snap after raising his flag for no apparent reason, leaving the Raiders players to come to a dramatic halt as Cronulla winger Sione Katoa scored.

Sutton said MacFarlane had failed to communicate with either the on-field officials or the bunker and no one else had spotted the raised flag.

MacFarlane did not tell anyone he’d raised his flag.

Sutton called Raiders coach Ricky Stuart on Saturday.

A gutted Stuart told The Sunday Telegraph he took Sutton’s call out of respect for the besieged head of the NRL refereeing department.

Sutton addressed several of Stuart’s accusations:

1. Stuart claimed the referees made three errors in the lead-up to Katoa’s try.

“We got that wrong,” Sutton said. “We shouldn’t be awarding a try. When he incorrectly raised the flag he needed to advise the referee so that the game could’ve been stopped then and there. It comes down to human error. As play unfolded (MacFarlane) thought he saw a knock on but raised his flag incorrectly. He told the referee that the Cronulla player ‘was not out and to keep play going and check it with the bunker.”

The referees made three errors in the lead up to the Katoa try.

“(The bunker) did not see the raised flag. They were tightly focused on the knock on call which was a tight call in itself. At any point the touch judge could’ve actually said I put my flag up here. If that happens then you expect that we’d go back and we’re not having the review because we’ve made an on-field call.

“As far as the knock-on aspect I don’t believe there was touch on the Sharks player. There is no knock-on.”

This pass from Leilua was called forward.

2. Stuart said that a Joey Leilua pass which led to a Brad Abbey try should not have been called forward

“I do believe the pass was OK,” Sutton said.

The pass clearly went backwards.

3. Stuart said Sutton tried to approach him before Friday’s press conference but not immediately afterwards.

“I was giving Ricky and (Cronulla coach) Shane (Flanagan) the offer of having a conversation before the press conference so they could have some clarity,” Sutton said. “I’m conscious that we need to have constant communication between the clubs, coaches and myself.”

4. Stuart declared the referees were not happy as a group.

“I would have to speak Ricky to get the context of his comments,” Sutton said. “I’m confident with where we are at a group, the morale and where we are headed.”

DISGRACE: Refs boss calls Stuart to apologise

ROBBED: Canberra’s season ended by baffling decisions

5. Stuart said referees were deciding the outcome of matches.

“Ultimately we are placed in games to make decisions and sometimes those decision will have an impact on the outcome of a game,” Sutton said. “Thankfully we get a high majority of those decisions rights. Unfortunately we erred on two decision on Friday night. Yes it had an impact on the outcomes of that game.”

6. Stuart said his club were “treated differently” to the rest of the competition.

“We treat each team very consistently,” Sutton said.

Originally published as Referees boss Bernie Sutton admits the Bunker did not know touch judge had raised his flag ahead of Sione Katoa try