Furious Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett found “zero consolation” in the NRL admitting they missed a crucial knock-on a minute before his side lost a golden point thriller to the Raiders.
Raiders forward Hudson Young took a pass from Jack Wighton and dropped it into Dolphins defender Ray Stone, but referee Peter Gough ruled the ball had gone backwards.
Three plays later, Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty iced a field goal to seal the 31-30 win over the Dolphins.
Watch every game of every round of the 2023 NRL Telstra Premiership Season LIVE on Kayo Sports. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
FOX LEAGUE PODCAST – REECE ROBSON
Cowboys hooker Reece Robson dissects his side’s “frustrating” start to the season and opens up on when the team realised something wasn’t quite right. Robson also looks back at his rugby league journey to become one of the top No.9s in the game. Listen HERE >
Reynolds handed $1000 fine for outburst | 00:38
The Sydney Morning Herald reported Bennett’s disgust that such a blunder could still happen with the amount of assistance the on-field referees have in the modern game.
“I think anyone who knows rugby league knew he knocked that ball on,” Bennett told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“That’s why the players reacted straight away on the field.
“[Canberra coach] Ricky [Stuart] has been the victim of those [wrong calls]. But with all the vision we have around the game now, it still defies belief the touch judge, the referee or the bunker doesn’t pick that up.
MORE NRL NEWS
RESERVES WRAP: Flanagan responds to Dogs’ challenge; Walker’s push for recall
‘TURN THEM INTO WINNERS’: The ‘hugely significant’ signings to shift Tigers woes
‘DISCIPLINE’S NOT THERE’: Manly not happy as $800k star has ‘gone backwards’
‘NOTHING WE CAN DO’: NRL admits huge referee blunder in Raiders’ late win
“You’re 30-all, you’re in overtime – it’s crucial. The games are so toughly fought, it’s disappointing stuff.
“We saw it from the coach’s box it was a knock-on. The video ref could have quickly told him.
“The hollow part about all this is it’s zero consolation today. That’s the part that pisses me off more than anything else, it’s the fact I have to suck it up and live with it.”
Bennett pointed out that referees are taking play back three or four plays in other instances for hip-drop tackles and believes once play was stopped for a HIA on Stone, the Bunker could have intervened on the knock-on.
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!
AJ set to play 200th game for Bunnies | 01:46
“They stopped the game because Ray Stone was knocked out, and we have had instances of hip-drops where it’s happened three or four tackles before, they’ve stopped the game and gone back to penalise a player,” Bennett said.
“Why not intervene in that moment [on Saturday] for the knock on? I would have been happy to walk away with one point, but they created the extra time. I said it at the time and I’ll say it again, all it [golden point] does is put referees under more pressure, and that was a good example of it.
“The only people happy are Canberra because they won. The rest of us are left with disappointment.”
The loss means the Dolphins slipped out of the top eight ahead of their clash with the second places Sharks in Magic Round.
