‘Absolutely correct’: Atkins praised for making brave call, NRL data suggests Demetriou’s comments were off the mark

The NRL has had its say on some contentious calls from the weekend, with Grant Atkins hailed for making a brave call that others would have avoided.

The NRL has defended the decision to award a penalty in golden point that saw the Dolphins beat the Titans.

NRL head of football elite competitions Graham Annesley has praised referee Grant Atkins for making the “absolutely correct” call to blow a penalty in golden point that helped the Dolphins beat the Titans on Sunday.

Gold Coast’s Erin Clark had been warned by Atkins that he was offside as he rushed out of the line to apply pressure to Jamayne Isaako who sprayed his attempt wide with the scores locked at 21-all.

Some officials may have kept the whistle in their pocket, but Atkins didn’t hesitate to award the penalty which Isaako coolly slotted to end his side’s losing streak.

Atkins can be heard shouting to Clark at the play the ball that he had jumped the gun, but the Titans forward ignored the warning.

Jamayne Isaako kicked the winning goal after Erin Clark was penalised for being offside. Picture; Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“Erin Clark, you were not onside, mate. You took off way too early,” Atkins yelled.

The decision earned plenty of criticism on social media from people who claimed that teams are always offside in golden point and that referees never blow a penalty.

But that argument doesn’t stack up considering Atkins did nothing wrong.

“It’s a big call to make, but it’s also a big call not to take any action if a player is offside and potentially forces the field goal attempt to miss,” Annesley said.

“The penalty is absolutely correct.

“I know there’s no criticism of the penalty – or very little criticism for the penalty itself – the only criticism I’ve heard is that this maybe doesn’t happen in other cases.

“It is a big call for the referee, but it’s one that he had to make, and he didn’t shirk it.”

Sunday’s result keeps the Dolphins in the hunt for a finals spot in their inaugural season. Picture; Chris Hyde/Getty Images

Annesley showed a replay from earlier in the game when Kodi Nikorima legally charged out of the line to pressure Tanah Boyd who nailed his field goal to tie things up despite the Dolphins fullback deflecting the kick.

Annesley had no issue with a couple of Bunker calls that upset Wests Tigers fans, with replays showing Tommy Talau clearly dropped the ball into Nicho Hynes before he scored, while Sharks winger Sione Katoa just got the ball down in the final few seconds.

He also addressed Jason Demetriou’s concerns that South Sydney were treated unfairly in the ruck in Saturday’s loss to the Bulldogs, with data from that game showing the Rabbitohs actually enjoyed quicker play the balls.

Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou questioned the referees after his side’s loss to the Bulldogs, but stats from that game suggest the officials didn’t do anything wrong. Picture; Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“The number of times there are extra efforts or a push on the ground or working their way around the tackle, all the things that we say we want to speed the game up for and people say they want a faster game, but consistently we’re getting controlled slower in the ruck,” Demetriou said after the game.

“Our ruck is consistently slower than anyone else, and it’s not like we’re fighting for it.”

Annesley revealed Souths enjoyed an average play the ball speed of 3.29 seconds when they had the ball, while that number jumped to 3.94 seconds when the Bulldogs had the ball.

“The Rabbitohs delayed the Bulldogs’ play the ball beyond four seconds on 39.2 per cent of occasions. The Bulldogs delayed the Rabbitohs’ play the balls to over four seconds on 26 per cent of the occasions,” Annesley revealed.

“We’ve got an obligation to have a look at these things when they’re raised.

“I can understand the emotion of a game and comments based on what we all think we observed during the course of the game, but in case the facts and the stats just don’t back it up.”