National Rugby League referees' boss Bernard Sutton has admitted what most fans already know, the refs were wrong to award the Broncos a match-winning penalty against the Tigers on Friday night.
The decision to penalise Ivan Cleary's men for not being square at dummy half was made all the worse considering Brisbane appeared to have commited a similar, more obvious penalty just minutes prior.
Spot the difference. #NRLTigersBroncos pic.twitter.com/5hWU5vLUAA
— Sporting News Australia (@sportingnewsau) March 23, 2018
As fans continue to vent their fury at how the game was decided, Sutton admitted to Fairfax Media that his employees didn't make the right decision.
“Ultimately, the penalty was incorrect," Sutton told Fairfax.
"There are a couple of contributing factors to how the referees came to that decision.
“Initially, Robbie Rochow doesn’t start square, but he does adjust as the play-the-ball happens.
“The other thing is when (Joe) Ofehangaue plays the ball, after playing it he steps towards the left.
"It gives the illusion to the referees that Rochow is standing standing beside, but he actually does adjust to the point where the ball is to be played."
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The concession will do little to appease the angst of Tigers' fans who were denied a third straight win to start their season after upsetting the Roosters and Storm to start their season.
Sutton revealed he has reached out to Cleary to explain his stance on the decision and will not make a call on the immediate future of the referees involved in the game until after the weekend.
