‘Against the true spirit of the game’: Referee gets support from head office after controversial penalty call against Bulldogs

It was the decision that divided the rugby league world, and now the NRL has weighed in on the call to penalise Josh Curran for impersonating a referee.

It’s been described as one of the most bizarre penalties ever seen on a footy field, but referee Wyatt Raymond’s decision to punish Josh Curran for essentially impersonating an official has been applauded by head office.

The Bulldogs forward was penalised in the dying minutes of the first half for calling out to Parramatta’s Matt Doorey that he was offside. Doorey stayed out of the play before he eventually made a tackle on Blake Wilson.

Bulldogs fans and players initially thought their side had been awarded a penalty, but Raymond explained to Reed Mahoney that his teammate was the one at fault.

"That's against the true spirit of the game!" 😡

Josh Curran was penalised for impersonating the referee...

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“That’s against the true spirit of the game,” the referee said.

It’s not uncommon for defenders to scream for the ball in the hope that a ball carrier offloads to them without knowing who is pushing up in support, but the key difference is that those players are generally offside.

Curran was 15m in front of the play and was standing next to the referee, which confused Doorey and he retreated to give Wilson the room to gain an extra advantage.

“I didn’t know what it was for. I’ll have to get some clarity on that,” Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said after the game, adamant he’d never seen something like that before.

The decision left commentators stunned and has been questioned by others, but it’s understood the NRL has reviewed the decision and agreed with the call given that Curran was offside and the defenders heard the voice coming from behind them.

It’s the first major incident that head office has had to address this season after Graham Annesley’s weekly Monday afternoon media briefings were scrapped to take pressure off referees.

Fans have called for Graham Annesley’s media briefings to return. Picture: NRL Imagery

But on a weekend where several coaches voiced concerns – most notably Canberra’s Ricky Stuart – some have called for the briefings to return to provide clarity to confused fans.

“Is it time to bring back the briefing? I think maybe so,” Matt White said on SEN 1170 Mornings.

“If not to make sense of six agains for Ricky Stuart and others, if not to make sense of hip drops for Wayne Bennett and others, if not to make sense of impersonating a referee for the benefit of Josh Curran and others, then at least to understand how topsy turvy this season is looking after just three rounds.

“Now, of course the briefings were kiboshed for this year unless something big needed explaining … some would say today is that day that you need a few things explained by NRL headquarters because the blowtorch has been well and truly turned back on Andrew Abdo.”