It wasn't a charge down though, he attempted to catch it. Subtle differences, but with totally different outcomes.
I want to send a big congratulations to Matt Cecchin. In a season where we have seen a stinking pile of crap served up to us by the men in pink week after week, where each performance has plumbed new depths of incompetence, it would be quite hard to stand out. Cecchin did so today with aplomb. That was, by far, the absolute worst performance by a referee I have seen in my entire life. Allowing the Warriors to get away with absolute murder in the play the ball, and penalising the Raiders for sneezing (I can't think of another reason for a few of his penalties today because the Raiders certainly did nothing wrong).
Amongst the absolute howlers out there were missing countless forward passes (two of which led to tries), blowing unbelievably baffling penalties (one of which led to a try), ignoring blatant obstructions (which led directly to a try and are identical to obstructions that the Raiders have been penalised for in the past few weeks) and not knowing the rules. The absolute worst decision from him was the one where he penalised the Raiders for having 3 markers. What had happened was that three players completed the tackle, two stayed at marker and the other made his way back to the defensive line (you know, like you see 400 times a match in pretty much every tackle). The man penalised? Bronson Harrison, the one who retreated to the defensive line. When Alan Tongue pointed this out, Cecchin replied "He was there when the ball was played." So there you have it folks, no more than two in a tackle anymore, and if you do have more than two in a tackle, those extra men better hope they can teleport clear of the play the ball or somehow disappear, or it'll be a penalty.
The most disgusting decision of the day though belonged to Stephen Clark. How many times have we seen tries disallowed because a guy was in front of the kicker and came within 10 metres of the play. I know Roosters fans know what I'm talking about, and there are countless examples. Those are the rules and the decisions need to be made based on those rules. But not today. A Warriors player, who was 3 metres in front of the kicker, came within 5 metres of Ropati as he contested the ball. Clear cut penalty. But bafflingly, Clark rules a benefit of the doubt try?!?!?!? WHERE THE f**k WAS THE DOUBT? Was it in the 3 metres in front of the kicker or being clearly within 10 metres of the play? Under the laws of the game, the only possible decision in that situation was a NO TRY. But not today.
Congratulations Warriors, we had no answer to your offloads. But an even greater achievement, you managed to beat a team who scored 4 tries by only scoring 1 legitimate one yourselves. Cecchin surely was a superb player for you today.
