In principle, I like the idea of the refs not sending a try to the bunker when they believe it’s a try, however, the unintended consequence here will be that refs will now always err on the side of ‘no try’ to cover their own backs. Then all the 50/50’s where there isn’t conclusive proof to overturn the ref will be no try.
For me, they should just sack off the ref being able to refer anything to the bunker other than touch line or grounding - let the ref make a call and only if it’s an obvious howler does the bunker get involved. I’d also suggest the bunker is not allowed to view footage in slow motion - our game shouldn’t be played or ruled under the microscope.
So, ones like the Souths one the other week, ref blows try, bunker gets a full speed replay and can see blatantly he’s put a foot in touch, the bunker over rules and try is chalked off. In ones where say there is a bomb and 2 players go up for the ball, the attacker comes down with it and scores, ref blows try, bunker can watch it in full speed without slow mo, or super zoom, and unless there is an obvious knock on, try is given - it could be that on super zoom and super slow mo, you can see 1 finger of the attacker brushed the ball, and then defender touches it, but attacker takes full possession and comes down with the ball - but that should be irrelevant as it’s not noticeable at full speed and had no significant impact on the contest for the ball.... same rules should apply for when a defender bats the ball dead in goal, but it brushes the attackers finger - to the naked eye, the defender has knocked the ball dead and the attackers finger brush was involuntary and had no impact on the outcome, so should be a drop out.
