Only Jack Howarth would have known if he got the ball down.
The Melbourne centre thought he had burrowed his way over for a try in the 49th minute.
Winger Xavier Coates flew high and tapped the ball back in-field for Howarth, who caught the ball and then dived across the line.
Panthers Izack Tago, Dylan Edwards and Brian To’o did their best to deny Howarth. Nathan Cleary and Mitch Kenny came in late and joined the pile-on.
Referee Ashley Klein sent the decision upstairs as a no-try.
When the replays started to beam inside Accor Stadium, the Storm fans began celebrating. Penrith fans started to stress. The 80,156 supporters were forced to drink mid-strength alcohol, so they were all confident they had spotted the ball hit the ground.
Howarth had the ball tucked under his right arm and favoured that side when he hit the deck.
Andrew Johns was sitting in the Nine commentary box and thought it was a try. Colleague Brad Fittler thought Howarth’s arm was under the ball.
Bunker official Grant Atkins, who had the benefit of more than 20 camera angles, was not convinced Howarth had scored.
The try would have got Melbourne back to 10-all with a kick to come.
Social media immediately lit up, with plenty of people asking what was going on.
Melbourne’s Jack Howarth gets over the line, but was ruled not to have scored.Credit: Getty Images
Panthers coach Ivan Cleary expressed concerns about the bunker deciding the outcome of an NRL grand final just seven days earlier following the win over Cronulla.
He made it known he was unimpressed with the efforts of bunker official Chris Butler that particular night.
It is fair to say Cleary would have welcomed the bunker call to deny Howarth.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley showed media clear replays of the no-try just minutes after full-time in a room beneath Accor Stadium.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley insisted Jack Howarth had not grounded the ball.Credit: NRL Photos
“When I saw it live, as everyone else was seeing it, I thought I saw the ball on the ground as well,” Annesley said.
“It’s only when we go back and look at it clearly, and you can see the different colour between the arm and the ball – they are a completely different colour – and the ball is sitting on top of the arm, which then gets lifted up.
“At no point did the ball hit the ground. And remember, they [bunker officials] are sitting in a clinical environment [in front of] a big screen, looking at this over and over again before they announce their decision.
“Thankfully the decision was correct.”
The no-try ruling did not cost the Storm victory. How can you seriously argue such a point when there was more than half an hour to hit back. Atkins is also one of the best officials in the game, and was in line to be the man in the middle on Sunday night.
Any debate about tries, however, is the last thing the NRL will want as a talking point after full-time. The governing body could do worse than produce a clear image that proved Howarth never scored via their social media accounts.
The Panthers deserved praised for the way they got so many bodies in front of Howarth. The youngster had an unhappy start to the second half when stripped of the ball by the excellent Liam Martin. On another occasion, with nine minutes remaining, he was bundled into touch with the ball by Cleary, Tago and Edwards.
Martin gave him a verbal lashing after he raced up and created a gaping hole for the back-rower to score before half-time.
The Storm were expected to kick high for their tall wingers, like they did with Coates before the Howarth moment, but the Panthers deliberately held off before wrapping up the ball.
There was no other drama involving the bunker. It was a high-quality game played at pace with few stoppages.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
