NRL 2022: Wests Tigers begin forensic investigation in bid to reverse Cowboys result

Wests Tigers’ legal challenge to reverse the controversial ending to the Cowboys game could rest on on-field audio recordings.

Wests Tigers have requested access to audio recordings between the referee, the bunker and the players as well as documentation around the running down of the clock as they conduct a forensic investigation into Sunday’s loss to North Queensland.

Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis confirmed the club had formally written to the NRL on Monday morning demanding further information as part of a campaign to potentially have Sunday’s result reversed.

ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys has also requested a full report from the NRL on the incident and wouldn’t rule out any response on Monday.

The sense is that the Tigers will only be satisfied with the two competition points, although that would prompt a backlash from North Queensland after their chief executive Jeff Reibel insisted the Cowboys had won the game “fair and square”.

Hagipantelis said it was incumbent on the club to give a voice to their fans, who continue to be outraged by the result, when a penalty against winger AJ Kepaoa for running an escort in the final second gave the Cowboys the chance to snatch the win.

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NRL head of football Graham Annesley conceded on Monday that the decision, by video official Ashley Klein, was wrong. However, he defended the circumstances surrounding the penalty, most notably the use of the clock and the Cowboys’ right to use a captain’s challenge.

The Tigers want to conduct their own investigation and have called on the NRL to hand over information surrounding the last-second incident.

“I sent a letter to Graham Annesley today asking for some particulars, some documents,” Hagipantelis said.

“We want all the audio and recordings between the referee, the bunker and the players. We want any documentation concerning the running down of the clock so we can cross-reference that against the video itself, so we can work exactly what happened and when it happened.

“The other thing that is of concern is that there is the limited period of 10 seconds for a captain’s challenge. This went beyond 20 apparently.

Wests Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis. Picture: Richard Dobson

“Also, if you are going to review it, have a look at the kickoff by Valentine Holmes - apparently his leg was in front of the halfway line.

“If you are going to review the play, review the entire play. Now they have conceded that there was no obstruction.

“A lot of it doesn’t make any sense to it at the moment. On the face of it, there is cause for concern.”

Hagipantelis hit back at suggestions the game would set a dangerous precedent by reversing the result, pointing out that the AFL had done it 16 years ago when St Kilda snatched a draw after the siren against Fremantle.

The result was changed by the AFL Commission, although they were quick to point out it was due to an off-field error rather than an officiating mistake.

“There have been references to creating a dangerous precedent,” Hagipantelis said.

“But there is nothing wrong with precedent. I don’t necessarily agree that it is dangerous. If there is such a blatant error and there is universal condemnation of that error and the error results in an unjust outcome, the morally correct thing to do is to reverse that outcome.

“You will not have people challenging referee’s calls during the course of the game - that will never happen. But this occurred at the end of the game, arguably following her completion of the game itself.”

Asked whether the Tigers felt like they owed a duty of care to their fans, Hagipantelis said: “This is their club. They expect us now to intervene.

“They are outraged by what occurred. And we would fail them miserably if we did not stand up for them. We give voice to those people in circumstances when they cannot be heard.

“If the game was complete and the referee then made a decision beyond the scope of the game that caused this outcome, there might be an argument to us that it was ultra vires - beyond his authority.

“That could be the subject of a challenge. A challenge in court to reverse the decision. Or perhaps to convince the NRL to intervene to change the outcome.

“There is precedent for that in the AFL. There was a clear error and the AFL stepped in and corrected it.”

Tigers’ legal action is doomed to fail

Can everyone just take a deep breath? The last thing rugby league needs right now is another court battle. More litigation.

It’s bad enough that the ARL Commission and NSW Rugby League are locked in an expensive legal stoush.

The Wests Tigers clearly feel a great sense of injustice given they were deprived of a win on Sunday afternoon that would have removed them from the bottom of the ladder.

A legal bunfight won’t provide salvation. Just more pain. Pore over the 80 minutes in Townsville and there would be a handful of decisions that could have gone the other way.

Some of them were no doubt wrong. Yet they aren’t under the same microscope as the last second call that defined the game and prompted Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe to launch an official complaint on Monday morning, demanding answers from head office over a decision that had commentators and fans crying foul.

Jackson Hastings dejected after the loss. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

The Tigers haven’t had much luck this season. Come to think of it, they haven’t had much luck over the past decade. But legal action won’t change their fortunes, particularly given it is doomed to fail.

News Corp spoke to a handful of lawyers on Monday morning and they provide little hope for the Tigers should they head down the legal route.

No doubt, that explains why the Tigers took the more pragmatic approach of taking their challenge through NRL channels. ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys has requested a comprehensive report on the incident and its surrounding events as he contemplates how to handle a situation that has Tigers supporters, players and officials up in arms.

V’landys and the commission have never been afraid to make big calls — they were responsible for bringing in the captain’s challenge that was at the centre of Sunday’s drama — and they won’t be afraid to make them on this occasion if the situation demands it.

V’landys wouldn’t rule anything out on Monday morning. Changing the result is seemingly on the table, although that would no doubt prompt a response from the beneficiaries of Sunday’s contentious call, the high-flying North Queensland Cowboys.

There has, however, been a precedent in Australian sport for changing the result.

Sixteen years ago, St Kilda kicked a point after the siren to grab a draw against Fremantle. The umpires didn’t hear the siren and allowed the point, which robbed Fremantle of victory.

The AFL conducted an investigation and overturned the result, deeming Fremantle had won the game. They did make the point that their decision was related to an off-field oversight rather than overruling an on-field decision of the match officials.

The ARL Commission would seemingly need to do just that — overturn the decision of a match official — to change the result of Sunday’s game. The vast majority of people agree that bunker official Ashley Klein got it wrong in ruling AJ Kepaoa was penalised for escorting Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt.

While changing the result based on that decision might appease the Tigers, it would also take rugby league into dangerous territory.

If Annesley comes out and confirms the Cowboys had no right to challenge and the game was over. Is there grounds for a legal complaint to reverse the decision? I can’t see how it can stand, if it’s confirmed game was officially dead. #NRL

— Freddie Faraj (@FreddieFaraj) July 24, 2022

I don't support either of those teams but the @WestsTigers were robbed cold blooded. @NRL, WTF are you guys doing? You have all the damn technology to make the right calls but I guess you all lack in common sense. Absolutely bullshit#NRL#NRLCowboysTigers

— Brown Panda (@itsyourguybp) July 24, 2022

Thanks @NRL but I’m done. Might as well ask teams in the bottom half of the comp not to turn up it’s that obvious you don’t want us to beat top 8 teams 🤦‍♂️🙄#NRL#NRLCowboysTigers

— Alex Chisholm (@Chiso16) July 24, 2022

The @NRL needs to make sure that what happened tonight is a watershed moment for change in the way the sport is officiated just like other sports have done after similar moments of blown calls by officials. Need to make sure that something like this can never happen again. #NRL

— Yosef Mordechai Coleman (@yosecakes) July 24, 2022

CLEARY CRINGED AT TIGERS CALL

— Fatima Kdouh

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has revealed he “cringed” watching the last-minute bunker decision that robbed his former side of a victory against North Queensland.

The final second of the Cowboys’ 27-26 controversial win over the Tigers sent the rugby league world into a spin after Chad Townsend challenged an escort infringement even though a penalty had not been awarded by referee Chris Butler.

In the bunker, Ashley Klein ruled Kyle Feldt was impeded trying to get to a short kick off, awarding a penalty to the Cowboys winger despite running into the back of Tigers centre Asu Kepaoa, who only had eyes for the ball.

Valentine Holmes kicked the penalty sealing the win for the Cowboys.

“I saw the end of it. It’s just a really bad call, that’s how I look at it… I wouldn’t worry about the captain’s challenge. I was cringing,” Cleary said.

“All that happens with bunkers is mistakes get highlighted more, if there is no bunker everyone moves on a bit quicker.”

The Tigers in disbelief after the loss. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

While stopping short of declaring the NRL needed to scrap the bunker, Cleary, who worked as referee’s consultant in 2016, said less decisions should be made by the video official.

“I’ve never really been a fan you know,” Cleary revealed.

“We have got to stop trying to make everything perfect, make everything black and white because it’s not going to happen.

“Just because you have a bunker it doesn’t mean you are going to get everything right.

“We should spend less time worrying about bunkers, less time using bunkers and just accept sometimes it’s the rub of the green, sometimes it’s not.”

Amid an outcry from fans over the officiating on Sunday night, the NRL moved to clear Butler of any wrongdoing by allowing Townsend to use his captain’s challenge.

Under the rules Townsend was able to ask for a review, even though a penalty was not blown on the field, because Butler had stopped play but not yet called full-time.

The confusing rule also had the premiership winning coach stumped, who admitted he wasn’t aware that a captain could challenge under such circumstances.

“Not specifically no, just because I didn’t know (the rule) just means everyone else doesn’t know,” Cleary said.

“It should be what the rule is… if the game stops you can (challenge).

“(But) I feel like the captain’s challenge is getting muddled by the minute.”

Before the contentious bunker call, the Tigers had scored twice inside the final five minutes to miraculously lead 26-25 and looked to have toppled the Cowboys.

On Sunday night, Tigers officials were exploring legal options to dispute Klein’s bunker decision.

The club has also lodged an official complaint with the NRL.

“Wests Tigers have lodged an official complaint to the NRL over a game-changing Bunker decision that cost them victory over the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville,” a statement on Monday morning said.