Written by Megan Taylor, sports reporter covering international sports since 2020
Wayne Bennett NRL Bunker criticism has intensified after the South Sydney Rabbitohs coach said the league admitted errors from last week’s loss to the Manly Sea Eagles.
Bennett was angered by what he believed was an incorrect Manly play-the-ball before a key try, with the seven-time premiership-winning coach again questioning rugby league’s use of video review.
For more NRL roster news, read Canterbury Bulldogs Roster Questions Grow As Finals Hopes Fade.
Bennett Stands By Bunker View
“We’ve got a Bunker - it’s supposed to be perfect because they expect us to be perfect. They have all the opportunity to make a decision and to see it and they still get it wrong,” Bennett said at the time.
“They don’t get it right all the time, and they should, because they’ve got the benefit of hindsight, and there’s no time limit on their decision making.
“I’m a fan of no Bunker, I can tell you. I’d rather just the game played on with life and accept it like we always accepted it.”
Bennett said the NRL had since contacted South Sydney to acknowledge mistakes, but that did not change his stance.
“Well, they apologised to us because they got a couple of things wrong,” Bennett said.
Official NRL rules, fixtures and match updates can be followed through the NRL website.
Coach Questions Rugby League’s Reliance On Reviews
Bennett compared rugby league’s use of the Bunker with review systems in soccer, basketball, gridiron, cricket, Australian rules football and rugby union.
“But I look at the world’s games, whether it’s soccer, gridiron, basketball, whatever, I don’t think there’s any other code in the world uses the bunker as much as we do.
“And I asked myself the question, ‘Why if it was such a great innovation, why aren’t the other codes buying into it?’
“The other codes aren’t buying into it because they realise it’s not going to help their game.
“So I’ve got to assume that we think we’ve got it right, but I think we haven’t.”
Bennett said fans would move on faster without long replay delays on stadium screens.
“But we put ours up on a board, on a replay board, it could be two or three minutes. You’re just sitting there watching, making your own opinion about it all - and then we still get it wrong.”