Graham Annesley fires back at Knights coach Adam O’Brien and officials got major calls right in golden point thriller

Graham Annesley took his chance to shoot down claims from Newcastle coach Adam O’Brien and the NRL football boss put his foot down on Monday.

Graham Annesley has fired back at Knights coach Adam O’Brien’s criticism of the officials on Sunday, with the head of football adamant the referees got several major calls correct. Picture: Albert Perez/Getty Images

NRL head of football Graham Annesley fired back at Knights coach Adam O’Brien after he slammed Sunday’s officiating crew for a couple of crucial calls that went against his side in their thrilling golden point loss to Cronulla.

The Sharks won after both teams were penalised for using blockers during field goal attempts, with O’Brien adamant that both plays were perfectly legal and that Annesley would “find a way to dress it up” at his weekly briefing.

On Monday Annesley took direct aim at the frustrated Newcastle coach, quoting him a number of times while pointing out that clubs were warned about blockers in the pre-season and showing replays of the Roosters and Dolphins being penalised for similar acts.

Both the Knights and Sharks tasted victory on Sunday before successful field goals were taken away...

O'Brien and Fitzgibbon were both of the belief neither penalty was the right call 😮

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— Fox League (@FOXNRL) August 19, 2024

“This is not something that has appeared in round 24,” he said.

“In the off-season, there were meetings that were held with coaches, there was documentation sent to coaches, there were videos that were produced before round one, and we have discussed in this forum throughout the year that players who stand between the ruck and the kicker in order to create an obstruction (will be penalised).

“If you do not want to take the risk of having field goals disallowed, don’t put these players in this position. You’re inviting the referee to take the action.

“Obstruction, blockers, case closed.

“If that’s dressing it up then I’ll cop it on the chin. It’s factual, it’s the rules of the game and players and coaches have to abide by those rules or suffer the consequences.”

The use of blockers wasn’t the only thing that angered some Knights fans who thought their side should have been awarded a penalty because Will Kennedy and a few other Sharks players were offside during Kalyn Ponga’s field goal attempt.

Annesley slammed a grainy image on social media that had circles around the defenders given that the ball had already cleared the ruck, while he stressed the Bunker isn’t allowed to rule on the 10 metres.

The NRL cleared up when the Bunker is allowed to rule on field goals.

“There have been photos circulating on social media that are taken when the dummy-half has the ball in his hands, with circles around literally all of the Sharks outside backs saying they’re offside,” he said, adding the Knights should have been penalised for being offside at a kick-off with six minutes to go.

“That’s not true, at least as much as we can tell from a camera that’s on the halfway line.

“Kennedy may have taken off early and may be a step in front of the referee, so I’ll concede he potentially has a one-step head start.

“The other players who were all singled out in some of the stuff that was around overnight, I think you can say with some confidence that it was nothing like the images that were circulated during the night.

“The Bunker cannot rule on that. It’s in the sole domain of the referee and the touch judge.”

Phoenix Crossland was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul as the half-time siren sounded. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

O’Brien was equally frustrated with the decision to sin bin Phoenix Crossland on the stroke of half-time after the Knights halfback flopped in and prevented Jesse Ramien from playing the ball before the siren sounded.

Referee Gerard Sutton said he “killed the play” having awarded a set restart against Crossland 20 seconds earlier for a similar act.

“This has been described as a ridiculous decision, but my personal opinion is that there’s absolutely nothing ridiculous about this decision at all,” Annesley said.

“There’s been reference made to the fact that there have been only one or two or three previous infringements in the game, and then out of the blue this one is penalised and goes to the sin bin.

“That’s what happens with professional fouls because you’re trying to gain an unfair advantage to try to stop a team from potentially scoring before the half-time siren.

“There’s nothing ridiculous about this decision. It’s 100 percent correct.”

Originally published as Graham Annesley fires back at Knights coach Adam O’Brien and officials got major calls right in golden point thriller