Are the lines they draw on soccer replays not accurate? If not, is there any reason they don't do that for RL?
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...dylan-walker-was-offside-20170912-gyfw13.html
The secret Hawk-Eye technology that shows Manly centre Dylan Walker was offside
Andrew Webster
Hawk-Eye technology secretly trialled during the Manly-Penrith match last Saturday night has revealed Sea Eagles centre Dylan Walker was offside – confirming the decision from the bunker to deny him a crucial try on the night.
As debate about the video referee intensifies, the NRL has confirmed the virtual offside line that has been tested at select matches this season found Walker was slightly in front of Blake Green when a kick was put through.
"We received the video this afternoon and it showed that Walker was offside, according to the technology," NRL general manager of innovation, Luke Gooden, told Fairfax Media.
Walker was denied the try in the second half of the sudden-death finals match after he chased down a Green grubber and scored. The on-field officials considered it a try, but it was overturned by the video referee.
The truth is the NRL has been working away at it all season. A
s revealed by Fairfax Media in March, the NRL has been working closely with Hawk-Eye experts. It had hoped to introduce the technology by round 13 this year.
The idea has been raised at competition committee meetings and put in front of some coaches, but the feeling is the technology should not be used until it is 100 per cent accurateIndeed, the technology is much more complex than merely Photo-shopping a red line over a screen shot from a TV replay.
"The first thought was you put a line on the screen like it has been done in other sports, but we worked out in rugby league it's a lot more complex for a lot of reasons," Gooden said. "The first part is that there aren't enough cameras. When soccer does it, it's generally around the penalty goal box. With rugby league, it's the whole hundred metres."
The other issue at play is the offside ruling for kicks.
"It's two feet behind the ball," Gooden said. "The referee's interpretation is that it's [in line] with the back of the ball. Then throw into the mix that when the player kicks it, his foot is off the ground."
In other words, it's difficult to determine exactly when the kick has been placed.
For these reasons, Gooden said the NRL wasn't prepared to rush through technology that wasn't quite ready. Given the heat the bunker has been wearing this year, that is understandable.
"It works the majority of the time," he said. "But the times when it causes problems is when it is on the far side of the field and you're trying to see if the winger or centre is on-side because they get smaller in the image. The technology is telling you if it's on or off. The concern is it's not reflected in the image itself. The unanimous view is that it's not quite there. If we throw it in and it tells a 50-50 story for a try, it will cause more problems for the game."
It's understood that some officials strongly oppose the introduction of the virtual offside line because the game is already strangled by too much technology.
But if it is introduced in the future it will be the game's most significant technological advancement since the introduction of the video referee two decades ago.
The technology was secretly trialled at the Auckland Nines and various NRL matches this season.
It is different to the 10-metre offside line hyped in the pre-season by Fox Sports. That was to be used for entertainment purposes – but it is not entirely accurate.
The NRL has been undergoing 3D scanning of all grounds because the camber of each playing surface has also proved problematic.
You wouldn't dream it could be so difficult, would you?
