The NRL has axed the bunker officials responsible for awarding a controversial try to Cronulla's Jack Williams during the Sharks' 28-24 win over St George Illawarra.
Dragons coach Paul McGregor was left fuming after the match, calling for accountability within the ranks of officialdom.
With St George Illawarra in front 6-0 in the 10th minute, Sharks halfback Chad Townsend put through a grubber kick, with Jack Williams appearing to get his hand on the ball first to score.
Referee Grant Atkins sent the decision to the bunker, who awarded the try. However a different angle appeared to show Dragons fullback Matt Dufty grounding the ball first, meaning a line dropout would have been the correct decision.
Dufty competes for the ball (Fox League)
"Pretty clear, right?" McGregor asked at his post-match media conference.
"So how do they keep getting it wrong, and who's accountable for it? It's a stuff up. In the end, there's the difference.
"I think all you guys (the media) should make a song and dance and do something about it.
"Because it's not good enough."
The NRL's head of football, Graham Annesley, acted swiftly, dumping bunker officials Steve Clark and Ben Galea from the Gold Coast-Penrith match. "The bunker decision to award a try to Jack Williams in tonight's Sharks-Dragons game was incorrect. Steve Clark and Ben Galea were due to officiate again tomorrow in the Titans-Panthers game as bunker officials," Annesley said.
"They have now been relegated, and will be replaced by Jared Maxwell and Brian Norrie."
Sharks coach John Morris was reluctant to be drawn into the debate, but said the try had little bearing on the outcome of the match, despite the final four-point margin.
"I haven't really seen it up close, the first look I thought it was a try," he said.
"They had enough looks at it to determine the try, so I've got to back their decision.
"I think the Dragons may have bobbled the ball in the leadup to one of their first tries, what goes around comes around in this game.
"At the end of an 80 minute game like that, I don't think the Jack Williams try, if it was proven to be no try, was such a huge play."
The blunder comes just weeks after the NRL admitted lack of depth in the video refereeing ranks makes it difficult to drop bunker officials after mistakes.
Sharks v Dragons Round 11: Presser - Paul McGregor
Sharks v Dragons Round 11: Presser - Paul McGregor
Annesley conceded that the COVID-19 restrictions meant the pool of referees available to officiate in the bunker was severely limited.
"We can't have Ash Klein and those sorts of people on the days that they're not refereeing coming into what's effectively not a 'clean' area, the bunker," Annesley said.
"They're under the same protocols in the referees' bubble that all the clubs are under.
"So we don't have the luxury of a lot of people who can do this and there's no point taking someone out of that role to put someone else in who has less capability to do the job because we'll get more errors."
The controversy overshadowed an entertaining match, with nine tries scored, although the Sharks will be sweating on injuries to Jesse Ramien (hamstring) and Chad Townsend (calf).
