NRL will make changes to video bunker to remove clangers

NRL head of football Graham Annesley will make changes to the video bunker in their bid to end the clanger on the eve of the finals.

The NRL bunker process is set to change for the finals. Picture: NRL Photos

The video bunker was meant to be one of the rugby league’s saving graces but it’s fallibility has been exposed yet again on the eve of the finals, prompting the NRL to rush through changes amid fears that a clanger could ruin the premiership hopes of one of the top eight teams.

NRL head of football Graham Annesley confirmed changes would take place after the Sydney Roosters were wrongly denied a try at the weekend when the two officials – Jared Maxwell and Beau Scott – in the bunker couldn’t agree whether Lindsay Collins should be awarded a four-pointer.

The end result was another calamity that convinced Annesley changes had to be made. He has already taken a recommendation to the ARL Commission for approval, the aim to have a new process in place for this weekend’s penultimate round of regular season matches.

The changes come as the finals loom large on the horizon, prompting well-founded fears that unless a shift is made someone’s season could be brought to a premature end by a poor decision.

Annesley addressed the Collins no-try in his weekly media briefing before revealing his aim to clean up the process that failed on Saturday night.

“I think that should have been a try,” Annesley said.
“It should have been a try today, tomorrow, every day of the week it should have been a try.

“It was an error by the bunker and it was an error caused by the different views in the bunker.

NRL Head of Football Graham Annesley has called for change

It‘s something I have turned my mind to over recent weeks because it’s not the first time we’ve seen something like this happen.

“I‘m currently reviewing the process. It’s a process issue and I think there are potentially opportunities for us to potentially improve that process. I’ll be making moves internally to address that over the coming days.

“Ultimately these things are a matter for the commission to sign off on, but what I hope to get to is a position of course where the general public and the good members of the media know no difference whatsoever.”

Lindsay Collins was denied a try

The bunker has endured a tumultuous multimillion-dollar existence since it was championed by former chief executive Todd Greenberg when he was head of football.

While the technology is beyond reproach, the people operating it have at times been found wanting. So it was on Saturday night as Maxwell and Scott butted heads over whether Collins should or should not have been awarded a try.

Fortunately for the NRL, the decision had no impact on the outcome of the match. Yet the decision shone the spotlight once again on the bunker and the misguided belief that its introduction would eliminate the clanger from the game.

No matter how good the technology, human error cannot be removed from the equation. As such, the search for perfection was always going to be a pipedream.

Kayo is your ticket to the 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership. Every game of every round Live & On-Demand with no-ad breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >

Yet there is no question the bunker can be used more effectively than it is now, hence Annesley’s decision to clean up the process.

It comes as the NRL braces for the finals series and continues to review what shape the bunker will take next season.

Contracts with the company that provides the technology has come to an end, so to the facility where the bunker is housed.

Todd Greenberg introduced the NRL bunker system. Picture: NRL Photos

“To the general public, all they want to see when a decision gets referred to the bunker is the right decision,” Annesley said.
“Most people in the general public would have no clue about what happens in the bunker when a decision gets referred. What happens in there is invisible until it comes back.

“My objective is to take every opportunity we have available to us to get decisions right.

“In terms of the outcome of the process, that will be no different. But we can look at the internal process … and whether those processes need to change or be fine tuned to give us a better chance of getting these sorts of decisions right.”