Truth about Kalyn Ponga field goal that everyone ignored amid NRL refereeing controversy

For all the talk that Newcastle were robbed and Kalyn Ponga's field goal should have been allowed, everyone seemed to overlook one simple fact - he actually missed. The Knights and Sharks both had field goals disallowed on Sunday because they were deemed to have had illegal blockers standing in the way of defenders.

The NRL brought in the rule this year to stamp down on defenders being impeded, but it's rarely been implemented until Gerard Sutton cracked down on Sunday. The Knights thought they'd won the game until Sutton blew a penalty against them, leaving coach Adam O'Brien fuming.

But O'Brien and Newcastle fans appeared to assume that Ponga got the field goal attempt. Replays of the kick show the ball travelled in front of the right-hand upright, meaning it actually missed and they wouldn't have won the game at that stage anyway.

Some suggested the Sharks were off-side during the play and Sutton should have given the Knights a penalty in front. But speaking in his weekly briefing on Monday, NRL boss Graham Annesley said social media still shots purporting to show the Sharks players off-side aren't accurate.

“There have been photos circulating on social media that are taken when the dummy-half has the ball in his hands, with circles around literally all of the Sharks outside backs saying they’re offside,” he said. “That’s not true, at least as much as we can tell from a camera that’s on the halfway line.

“(Will) Kennedy may have taken off early and may be a step in front of the referee, so I’ll concede he potentially has a one-step head start. The other players who were all singled out in some of the stuff that was around overnight, I think you can say with some confidence that it was nothing like the images that were circulated during the night. (But) the Bunker cannot rule on that. It’s in the sole domain of the referee and the touch judge.”

Graham Annesley fires back at Newcastle Knights coach

Annesley also fired back at O'Brien, who suggested it was "ridiculous" for referees to start clamping down on illegal blockers at this stage in the season. Annesley also pointed out that Newcastle should have been pinged for being blatantly off-side during a kick-off when it was 18-18 late in the game. A penalty would have given the Sharks prime field position to win the game in regulation time.

“This is not something that has appeared in round 24,” Annesley said. “In the off-season, there were meetings that were held with coaches, there was documentation sent to coaches, there were videos that were produced before round one, and we have discussed in this forum throughout the year that players who stand between the ruck and the kicker in order to create an obstruction (will be penalised).

“If you do not want to take the risk of having field goals disallowed, don’t put these players in this position. You’re inviting the referee to take the action. Obstruction, blockers, case closed. It’s factual, it’s the rules of the game and players and coaches have to abide by those rules or suffer the consequences.”

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Cronulla hero Daniel Atkinson admitted Sutton was right to disallow his first attempt, before he nailed his second in golden point. "It was just dumb by me, to be honest," he said. "I had blockers there, I just got excited because it was a quick play-the-ball. It was a fair call (from the referee). It didn't rattle me. It was probably just more, 'I shouldn't have taken that'."

with agencies