Josh Papali scores those short range tries for fun, so I would have thought CC see's 10 mins in bin as a very good outcome.Admittedly not a lot of contact, but a foul nevertheless, and enough to stop a probable try.A penalty try maybe too far fetched, but a sin binning definitely.

I’m not a Raiders fan but they certainly got the majority of the shabby calls from the officials.



Whiteheads charge down that hit the smirking water carrier would, Im pretty sure, have resulted in a try under the posts.



I thought the Papalii incident was a penalty try, the VR said he couldn’t be sure he would have reached the try line. Well there was maybe 4m to go and no defender directly in front of him so I’m sure he would.



The six to go call was atrocious, anyone who’s played the game knows that it robbed Canberra of the opportunity to turn the screw on the Roosters. A kick to the in goal or even a Roosters first tackle just outside would have kept Canberra in the ascendancy. Instead you’ve got the Raiders slightly out of defensive shape and unfocused due to the perceived injustice. That’s all it takes at that level for a quality team to make a line break!



The rules state that the Referee can not change his decision unless foul play is brought to his attention, so the Referee was wrong to change.



There is precedence for the appropriate action should the Ref deem that he’s got it wrong and interfered with the flow of the game. The decision in that instance is to call for a Scrum which would have provided the time for Canberra to clear their minds and organise their defence.



Whichever side you come down on, for a clubs whole seasons efforts and a Grand Final locked on the scoreboard to be decided by a Referees gaff is very disappointing and a bit embarrassing

You cannot say with any certainty that the chargedown would have led to a try. It's a rubbish rule but it was applied correctly. Different issue but there's no way the trainers should be on the pitch as much as they are.



The CC incident IMO was a penalty. A split second out from being perfectly timed. Sin bin was harsh, penalty try would have been ludicrous.



Agree about the ref not being able to change his mind and it doesn't look good but there's two refs - what do you do when they disagree. They made the right call in the end. Play was stopped and Canberra had time to set their line. They had ample possession and field position to score. Roosters defence and a moment of brilliance from Latrell is what won that game, not a refereeing decision.

What a great game the final was the first half was brilliant



What an utter shame Canberra lost the match from a shocking call from the ref



Clearly waved the tackle count clean then once tackle complete called a turnover



Really really bad from normally a very good ref



Cronk tackle was clearly before he got the ball

With the pace JP took the ball at and where he was relative to the line for me would have being a try and should have being a penalty try



On the charge down soliola made an exceptional effort to charge the ball down and took a full paced ball to the face



Advantage should always go to those that have earned it IMO



Whitehead wouldn’t have gone the length of the pitch but Canberra should have had scrum attack to them

A moment of brilliance, created by a referee error; had the ref not sold the Raiders a pup with his 6 to go then quick reversal, that opportunity would not have arisen.

The smirk from the water carrier said it all.

But how many moments of brilliance would we not have seen in any game ever if the refs got every call correct. If the ref got the Whitehead knock on correct CC would never have been sin binned and who knows how different the game would have been. It's not like a blatant knock on/offside etc has been given as a try, it was a different set of 6.

As I pointed out earlier, the rules state that the referee cannot change his decision unless prior foul play is involved. The Referee broke the rules by changing his mind but he’s only human and can make a mistake. However, having made the mistake he should have called for a scrum.

Was that rule re-written when they introduced two refs? Because what happens when they make a different call?



Assuming that still applies then it is an even worse mistake, but.. get on with it. When we let Liam Marshall run the length from that 20m restart this season, that was the same play so much worse. Obviously not as much at stake but still these things happen. Yes ref made some poor decisions and its disappointing but not the reason the game was lost.

It’s the rule in both ESL & NRL

My understanding is that each ref deals with a different thing, so they wouldn't be making different calls on the same thing - if that makes sense?



On your point about the CC sin-binning - he clearly tackled the man without the ball; it was a professional foul, and although I thought a sin-binning was harsh, it was technically the right call.



There is no defence for the referee changing his mind after calling 6 to go; he just got it wrong and in my view, it totally changed the game - which is a real shame at a showcase event, which was tight as a drum up to that point.

And i'd backed a field goal which was more likely at 8-8