"You happy with the on side Walshy?"

[Captain Apollo]

Just watched Manly v Penrith that I recorded earlier today. Great game and freak catch and pass by Jamie Lyon at the end. What struck me as strange was just before the final try was awarded you could here Matt Checcin clearly ask the touch judge "you OK with the on side Walshy?". Being a recording, I hit the rewind and checked if the chasers were on side. Funny enough I reckon Brett Stewart on the far side of the field was perhaps a half a yard offside, but it was very close.

So that raises the question. If Checcin wasn't sure if the Manly chasers were on side, why didn't he go upstairs? I mean, taking the Touchy's word for it in such an important moment in a big game seemed a bit reckless, especially in the context of the season where every f**kin' grounding, kick chase and decoy run has been checked.

Lord League

Actually when it comes to kicks down field and chasers from the kicking team, the touch judges are expected to assist the referee about whether they are onside or not. Touch judges are usually, at worst, in line with the kicker, if not behind, so they are able to better judge their onside than the Referee who is back the 10 metres with the defending side.

In fact if you go back to before they had radio communication (e.g. mid-late 1990s) you will see Touch Judges in first grade used to signal whether chasers were on side or not by either raising their non-flag carrying arm out in front of them when they ran, indicta8ing the chasers were on side, or leaving it down close to his body if they weren't.

As such it is not "reckless" at all. It is par for the course for something that has been occurring for decades.

 

[The Elephant In The room]

Unless Walshy said "No I'm not", what is the problem?

 

[thorson1987]

They brought in a rule this year that the clock gets stopped in the last 5 minutes when points are scored. That is how Melbourne had time to kick their second field goal in Round 2 remember?

As Canard posted, they stop the clock after conversions, penalty goals or field goals.

Not after tries.

And it has been that way all season.

 

[The Enforcer]

Here the Panthers presser from today. I'm not sure what's more funny, Sowards squirming face or Manly singing the team song in the background.

http://www.nrl.com/clock-dramas-infuriate-penrith/tabid/10874/newsid/81455/default.aspx

Thought he handled himself pretty well and had trouble finding the squirming face that you speak of ?

 

[elbusto]

I thought it was a fair try and I hated it. And I hate Manly.

 

[juro]

I thought, given the importance of the try, it was worth at least checking. My first query was regarding the 2 players going up for the kick, and whether there was any knock on. A quick look confirmed it was okay, but it is worth checking to get it right.

If the game was already decided, sure, just give it. But with it deciding the game, and the finishing positions of 2 teams battling for positions in the top 8, I'd much rather them take the time to get it right.

 

[Danish]

As Canard posted, they stop the clock after conversions, penalty goals or field goals.

Not after tries.

And it has been that way all season.

Problem is the referee specifically states that he asked them to stop the clock repeatedly and it took them 15 seconds to do so.

That is f**king pathetic, and should not happen in professional sport.

Surely the referee can be the sole judge of time in league by giving him a watch to start and stop the clock on himself, with that linked wirelessly to the siren.

 

[TheFrog]

I'd suggest you go and watch a replay. I was at the game and sitting at the northern end so had no idea what happened but when I went home and watched it on tv there is absolutely no question he dropped it and could be clearly seen pulling it back in.

Maybe because he's just been hit in the head. And its not that clear at all.

 

[thorson1987]

Problem is the referee specifically states that he asked them to stop the clock repeatedly and it took them 15 seconds to do so.

That is f**king pathetic, and should not happen in professional sport.

Surely the referee can be the sole judge of time in league by giving him a watch to start and stop the clock on himself, with that linked wirelessly to the siren.

If that is true (I didn't hear it) he should be dropped.

There was absolutely no reason to stop the clock until the conversion had taken place.

 

[Frank_Grimes]

If that is true (I didn't hear it) he should be dropped.

There was absolutely no reason to stop the clock until the conversion had taken place.

NRL.COM seems to disagree with itself:

Under the new 2014 rule changes, time is to be blown off every time points are scored in the last five minutes of a half – which has added to the drama of any number of grandstand finishes already this year.

http://www.nrl.com/clock-dramas-infuriate-penrith/tabid/10874/newsid/81455/default.aspx

 

[Cheops]

The rule change had nothing to do with it. The clock was stopped because the ref thought Lyon was wasting time which has always been an option.

 

[Danish]

If that is true (I didn't hear it) he should be dropped.

There was absolutely no reason to stop the clock until the conversion had taken place.

If the kicker takes more than 90 seconds then the clock is supposed to be stopped, which IMO is far too long. Should be 40 seconds like a drop out

 

[thorson1987]

If the kicker takes more than 90 seconds then the clock is supposed to be stopped, which IMO is far too long. Should be 40 seconds like a drop out

The try was scored at 78:50.

So even if they have to stop it after 90 seconds, there was still no reason to stop the clock as the 90 seconds would not have elapsed before fulltime.

So he had all the time in the world to kick it.

 

[effnic]

Watching the replay now and have a good laugh at jamie coward whinging about how the lost 45 seconds. Does he realized how much time he wasted taking drop outs and strolling the ball back for kickoffs after we scored a tries.

 

[Danish]

The try was scored at 78:50.

So even if they have to stop it after 90 seconds, there was still no reason to stop the clock as the 90 seconds would not have elapsed before fulltime.

So he had all the time in the world to kick it.

Technically, yes. And if the ref had simply said to Soward "he has 90 seconds to kick it, sorry" then no problem.

My issue is that the ref DID signal time off, but it took several goes and 15 seconds to get a response from the official time keeper. That is not on, and given the issues we've had with time keeping in the last 12 months (the semi-final debacle last year, storm vs dragons earlier in the year, etc) then I think implementing some tech to get time keeping precise should be a priority.

 

[carcharias]

Soward should have been 1 second faster when the last try was scored.

 

[coolsteve]

Soward should have been 1 second faster when the last try was scored.

:lol::lol::lol:

 

[Sea_Eagles_Rock]

All hog wash. I notice Matai escaped being charged for that monster hit. So the forward pass should have been called and a Manly scrum. I can't recall if it led to points. It cost field position. I'm not even going to start on the no try call.

 

[GongPanther]

We shot ourselves in the foot during the game by poor non-passing options and ball security by Idris.

But an experience side like Manly was always going to come back to bite...and good luck to them.

Being in that crowd if you were a Manly supporter would have been a huge buzz after a great escape such as that.

Still,we have gotten away with close calls so I guess what goes around comes around.

Actually after a loss I don't DVD my Panther games.But because there was so much that Penrith will take out of this game,it was well worth saving for the archives.

 

[thorson1987]

Technically, yes. And if the ref had simply said to Soward "he has 90 seconds to kick it, sorry" then no problem.

My issue is that the ref DID signal time off, but it took several goes and 15 seconds to get a response from the official time keeper. That is not on, and given the issues we've had with time keeping in the last 12 months (the semi-final debacle last year, storm vs dragons earlier in the year, etc) then I think implementing some tech to get time keeping precise should be a priority.

Agree.

Like I said, I didn't here the ref call time off.

But if he did as you say, he f**ked up as he shouldn't have.