Another week, another refereeing blunder in the NRL.
When the Newcastle Knights took their talents across the ditch to take on the New Zealand Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium, fans were probably expecting match officials to get something wrong considering how the 2018 NRL season has gone.
They didn't have to wait long as a ridiculous forward pass was missed in the 13th minute which led to Ken Sio crossing the chalk for the Novocastrians.
With the Knights attacking deep in Warriors' territory, the ball shifted to star halfback Mitchell Pearce who was rushed and smashed by Adam Blair.
Pearce got the ball away just in time, but as anyone and everyone can see, the ball floated well and truly forward before it landed in Sio's grasp who did incredibly well to beat about five Kiwi defenders to score.
Watch Pearce's forward pass in the video player below.
NRL commentators were astounded that the linesperson hadn't made the call.
"That's gone two metres forward," Michael Ennis said on Fox League.
"How has the touch judge had missed that?
"There's no doubt about the pass from Pearce."
Steve 'Blocker' Roach agreed with Ennis and believes that the Warriors actually stopped play and waited for a whistle.
"I reckon they've (Warriors) all virtually stopped when they saw that pass," Blocker said.
"That was a metre forward."
Fans vented their frustration on Twitter.
Another #forwardpasstry only the 1000th this year whilst the video ref watches on negligent as always #NRLWarriorsKnights
— simon hanau (@HanauSimon) August 10, 2018
Has to be a captains challenge especially if the refs can’t ask the bunker about forward passes. It’s killing the game week in week out. #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Warriors v NRL Referees (@war_refs) August 10, 2018
Is that spot on mt smart the Bermuda triangle where forward passes just disappear? #NRLWarriorsKnights pic.twitter.com/RXZTjLBP1E
— Dean Taylor (@DNoze) August 10, 2018
The pass was only 2m forward #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Ros Scarlett (@ros_scarlett) August 10, 2018
The NRL really should start paying their match day officials. Newcastle just scored off a pass that was so far forward it nearly entered a new time zone. #NRLWarriorsKnights
— Jis Chrudd. (@JisChrudd) August 10, 2018
