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As Sydney Roosters celebrate, NRL rallies around ref Ben Cummins

The NRL has promised to throw its support behind referee Ben Cummins amid the furore over Sunday’s grand final blunder.

Fullback James Tedesco soaks up the sunshine and the adulation during the Sydney Roosters fan day outside the Hordern Pavilion yesterday . Picture: Brett Costello
Fullback James Tedesco soaks up the sunshine and the adulation during the Sydney Roosters fan day outside the Hordern Pavilion yesterday . Picture: Brett Costello

The NRL has promised to throw its full support behind under-fire referee Ben Cummins after the furore over Sunday’s grand final blunder raged into Monday.

Cummins has been lambasted for backtracking on a six-to-go call which resulted in Canberra surrendering possession at a crucial time in the game.

The Roosters went from defending their line desperately to scoring a runaway try and claiming the grand final 14-8.

On Monday, as the Roosters celebrated their victory at a fan day in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, the NRL put measures in place to help Cummins deal with the fallout, which has included a tirade of social media abuse.

“Sometimes things happen that are no one’s fault,” ARL chair Peter Beattie said.

“Nobody is saying Ben went out there to make a bad decision. Of course he didn’t. We will support him because at the end of the day if people keep vilifying referees no one will want to do this job. You’ve got to make sure you (support them) and that they keep getting these decisions right.”

Beattie also praised Canberra coach Ricky Stuart, who refused to be drawn into criticism of the referee in his post-game press conference.

“Ricky Stuart was classy. Let’s give him credit,” Beattie said.

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Cummins’s performance has been criticised by everyone from Russell Crowe to Wally Lewis and Johnathan Thurston.

Cummins admitted just last week he at times doesn’t want to go out in public after “a dusty game” to avoid copping it from unhappy fans.

Beattie mirrored the view of NRL head of football Graham Annesley, who insisted the correct call was made even if the process was wrong.

Regardless, it can’t be denied it came at a crucial time, with possession awarded to the Roosters after Jack Wighton saw six-again signalled before it was reversed.

“I can understand why a lot of Raiders fans were unhappy with what happened but the reality was a mistake was made and it was corrected,” Beattie said.

“When you’ve got a linesman and the assistant referee giving advice, you can’t ignore it.

“He’s not going to feel terribly good today, of course he’s not. There is controversy around … (but) we’ve got to be sensitive about these things. These are not robots, they are people.”

Not that any of that will appease Raiders fans. Wighton has since insisted the six-again call changed the way he treated the crucial play before he was forced to hand it over and the Roosters scored in the next set.

“I saw it (six-again motion). I would have put it on the toe or thrown the ball if that was not the instructions,” Wighton said.

“I saw the call so I held onto it and he’s gone back on his decision. I watched him wave his arm and I told Emre (Guler) to hold the ball because there was six again.

“I definitely wasn’t passing it because I knew it was six (again). But we’re definitely not going to blame a ref for our loss, we had more than enough opportunities.”

Cummins doesn’t use social media and is usually able to avoid seeing criticism. But the blowback from Sunday’s decision would have been hard to miss.

“It’s not easy but you get used to (abuse),” Cummins said last week after being appointed to control the decider.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, AAP

Michael Carayannis
Michael CarayannisRugby League Reporter

Michael Carayannis is a rugby league journalist for The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and CODE Sports.

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/nrl/as-sydney-roosters-celebrate-nrl-rallies-around-ref-ben-cummins/news-story/a79eb62f810f023b0d837d594c5ccbba