‘Cheating of the highest order’: NRL reviewing Warriors’ sponsor’s rant

The NRL is investigating stunning claims made by the boss of the New Zealand Warriors’ major sponsor, which included accusations the referees and NRL bunker wanted the club to lose, and that some of the calls made on Saturday were “cheating of the highest order”.

Jason Paris, the chief executive of New Zealand telco One NZ, took to social media to vent his frustrations following the Warriors’ loss to Penrith.

Warriors coach Andrew Webster was unhappy with a couple of calls and questioned why his side never received a penalty for a high shot on Tohu Harris despite the bunker having ample time to review the tackle by Panthers forward Moses Leota.

“I’m going to take a hat around and get you guys to pay for my fine; if you all want to chip in, I’ll give you whatever you want,” Webster said after the game.

Paris did not hold back on social media, and posted on Twitter: “It’s absolutely outrageous and so incredibly frustrating. Imagine how the team feel – three games in 11 days and then this rubbish. Cheating of the highest order.”

He said in another post: “Are you kidding me? How biased are the @NRL bunker and referees against the @NZWarriors ? Have they got money on them to lose? It’s like we are permanently against 14 on the field and they want us to play with 12. Huge courage from the boys.”

Paris continued to comment on Sunday evening, claiming the Warriors had not been given a “fair go” in recent weeks.

Paris posted: “In no way am I condoning any abuse against refs, but when they are not up to it, they should be stood down and given additional training and support to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. These are paid professionals adjudicating in one of the most competitive and toughest sporting competitions in the world – with high definition video at their disposal. All we are asking for is consistency for every team, every week.”