NRL boss makes call on sanctioning Wayne Bennett after 'ridiculous' criticism of Bunker

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has described calls from Wayne Bennett to scrap the Bunker review system as "ridiculous" after insisting technology is here to stay and that video officials get calls right "99% of the time". Bennett was filthy about a first half obstruction call that went against Trai Fuller in the Dolphins' round 27 defeat to Newcastle that saw the Knights claim the eighth and last NRL finals spot.

Fuller appeared to open the scoring at McDonald Jones Stadium after darting over the tryline midway through the first half. But the Bunker ruled Dolphins second-rower Connelly Lemuelu impacted the outside shoulder of Knights forward Brodie Jones and prevented him from reaching the livewire Dolphins fullback.

Lemuelu had also contacted Jack Cogger with his run but impacted only the Knights' five-eighth's inside shoulder, but Bennett insisted the Knights defenders initiated the contact and the try should have stood. The master coach felt Jones had actually been impeded by Cogger, who made the defensive decision to tackle Lemuelu and blocked his teammate in the process.

"If that's where we're going we're in a fair bit of trouble because that's a try every week," a furious Bennett said after the game before warning that a bad decision could cost a team dearly in the finals series. "The three defender (Cogger) committed our player who was running the inside shoulder, which is what he's supposed to do, and the four defender (Jones) ran into him and they said he (Lemuelu) obstructed him.

"If that's the case there will be no more of those tries scored. The four defender will run straight into the guy running through because he knows he's going to get a penalty ... it's just crazy. I feel sad for the teams going forward in the next four weeks because someone else is going to pay the price for it."

League Immortal Andrew Johns and Phil Gould both agreed with Bennett that the Bunker official got the call "wrong". And fans have become increasingly disillusioned with officiating in the NRL this season, with constant calls for the NRL to scale back the influence of the Bunker. Video officials were originally introduced to eliminate clear and obvious errors in try-scoring situations but the Bunker has gradually come to adjudicate on most aspects of the game - to the annoyance of many viewers.

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo says the Bunker is here to stay

Another suggestion has been for the NRL to cut back on the number of officials who operate out of the Bunker, in the hopes it will improve the consistency around calls. But the NRL CEO told reporters on Monday that there was no way they would consider scrapping the Bunker. Abdo said he understood Bennett's frustrations after his side missed out on securing a finals spot but said technology is used in professional sports all around the world and claimed the right calls were made in the NRL just about all the time.

"I get how much is at stake and I get the passion of the players and the fans and coaches," the NRL boss said at Monday's finals series launch in Sydney. "All I'll say is I think it's ridiculous to consider a sport not using technology to make decisions ... 99 per cent of the time, they (Bunker officials) get it right.

"In the off-season we'll stop, take a breath, think about process, think about technology and think about the rules to try and make sure that we're getting better and that we're eking out any issues that we have. But talk of saying that the Bunker itself is no value, I don't think that's right."

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NRL won't sanction Wayne Bennett over Bunker swipe

The NRL CEO accepted some decisions on a footy field are subjective and as such, would be ruled on differently from one official to the next. But he said Bennett - who is set to re-join South Sydney as head coach in 2025 - would not be sanctioned for calling the Bunker's decision-making process "crazy" in his post-match spray.

"He hasn't called into account the integrity of any of the officials. I don't have an issue with him expressing his views," Abdo said. "I don't necessarily agree with him but that's his right. Wayne is one of the all-time coaches of our game. He's just been inducted into the Hall of Fame, he's entitled to his opinion."