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NRL Bunker slammed over controversial try to Roosters’ Sean O’Sullivan

CURRENT players, former stars, commentators and fans were up in arms following a head-scratching decision to award a try to Roosters rookie Sean O’Sullivan.

Nick Walshaw
2 min read
July 15, 2018 - 10:02PM
There were plenty of question marks around Sean O'Sullivan’s try for the Roosters.
There were plenty of question marks around Sean O'Sullivan’s try for the Roosters.

OH, NRL Bunker we want to love you.

Truly, we do.

And given you cost the game $2 million annually … well, that’s a bloody lot of bush footy jerseys.

Which is why we don’t want to join what now seems to be a weekly stacks on.

But then you go and award that try to Roosters rookie halfback Sean O’Sullivan.

A controversial touchdown where everyone — or everyone bar Roosters coach Trent Robinson — wakes today still convinced the teenage debutant knocked on once, and perhaps twice, when trying to ground the Steeden minutes from halftime.

And, yes, it eventually formed part of a wonderful Tricolours yarn.

One that saw the Glenmore Park junior finish as one of three Roosters to score on debut, joining Paul Momirovski and Poasa Faamausili.

But as for his try?

Wow.

Fair to say the 19-year-old will never forget it.

Nor Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan.

Or Titans fans.

Or anyone else who watched the Roosters eventually squeak home 20-12.

Sean O'Sullivan’s try for the Roosters was controversial to say the least.
Sean O'Sullivan’s try for the Roosters was controversial to say the least.

Winning not only on the back of a contentious Bunker ruling, but another try where the pass from Rooster Kurt Baptiste to Faamausili looked a little, err, line ball.

But more on that shortly.

First, to O’Sullivan, who as a replacement for expectant father Cooper Cronk, ran courageously at the tryline only six minutes from the break, aiming at what was a quickly diminishing gap between Titans prop Jarrad Wallace and the large white padding around the right upright.

At the time, his mob were only up 8-6. And with Titan Will Matthews spending 10 minutes in the sin bin.

So points here, they were crucial.

Yet as O’Sullivan got to the tryline, Wallace stripped the ball from his hands.

Worse, as the youngster tried to regather, he appeared to bobble the ball around, both into the posts and also forward in a bombed opportunity.

Yet the NRL Bunker thought differently.

Going through several looks before showing up the green ‘Try’ sign behind a bucket of KFC chicken.

To which even O’Sullivan burst out laughing.

Paul Momirovski scores a try on debut for the Roosters.
Paul Momirovski scores a try on debut for the Roosters.

Asked afterwards about call, Brennan deadpanned: “Are you talking about the forward pass? No, the other one? I just wanted to clarify.”

Um, so you felt the Baptiste pass was forward too?

“Felt,” Brennan grunted, “you could see it was”.

And the bunker ruling?

“Frustrating,” he said. “What did it look like to you?”

To which a reporter replied that it was on obvious knock on.

“And how many looks do they get?” Brennan continued. “A few? It’s very frustrating.”

Quizzed his own thoughts, Titans skipper Ryan James added: “I haven’t got 10 grand.

“But I thought the player (O’Sullivan) was the best judge of what happened. Even he knew he didn’t score a try.”

Robinson, however, saw it differently.

“I thought it was a try,” he said.

“The ball got stripped. The pad was behind him, he pushed it into the pad, let go and recovered it from there.”

Regardless, the win put the Roosters into the top four.

And in a game where three debutants all scored.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen that before,” Robinson said, talking about the rookie hat-trick. We think.

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Original URL: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-bunker-slammed-after-awarding-try-to-roosters-sean-osullivan/news-story/6c6458717c615e4b331353e22bb3e835