Legendary commentator Ray Warren admits the ‘chaos and mayhem’ of the six-again controversy that marred Sunday’s NRL grand-final extended to the Channel 9 commentary box.
With the Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders locked at 8-all in the 72nd minute, referee Ben Cummins waved his left arm to signal six more tackles to the Canberra Raiders after initially ruling the ball had deflected off a Sydney Roosters player.
But when fellow referee Gerard Sutton told Cummins he had made a mistake, the whistle-blower reversed his decision on the run.
There was mass confusion on the field as Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton was tackled with the ball and forced to hand it over to the Roosters, who scored the match-winning try from the next set of six.
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It was the most contentious decision in NRL grand-final history, casting a shadow over the Roosters’ 14-8 victory and causing a firestorm of criticism.
NRL Head of Football Graham Annesley has since declared the decision not to re-start the tackle count was correct but admitted the way the call was made was ‘unpallatable’.
“It looks like they did the right thing although it was just absolute chaos and mayhem for the spectators, and for the players and for the commentators,” Warren told Triple M.
“… I don’t know what it (his call of the incident) came across like to be quite honest with you but I remember calling that he (Cummins) had nullified the count, in other words that he had re-started the tackle count.
“And then the ball went to the right and then suddenly I’m hearing this person saying, ‘This is the last, this is the last’, and he went then and took the ball and of course gave it to the Roosters.”
The veteran commentator urged the NRL to change its procedures in order to avoid a repeat of the infamous incident in the future.
“But I hope they learn something out of all of this,” Warren added.
“To my way of thinking when a referee makes a blunder like that he should blow the whistle, put his arms in the air and say time out, and go back and re-start the game where the problem started.”
How the Channel 9 call of the incident went down:
Warren: “Getting underneath it, Tedesco, it’s come of a Raider, gone down to Hodgson, they’ve re-started the tackle count. This is Guler, and he’ll go to ground, he keeps a phase going, out to Wighton and Wighton’s tackled, 10m out.”
Phil Gould: “Well now he called six-again.”
Warren: “What’s he doing there? I’m sure he indicated six more.
Gould: “They did, they waved six-again and then they’ve changed their mind.”
Warren: “Well hang on, maybe The Bunker was telling them they’ve made a mistake, are they?”
