Warriors players gather behind their line to watch another try being converted. Photo / Cameron Spencer, Getty Images, File
Warriors players gather behind their line to watch another try being converted. Photo / Cameron Spencer, Getty Images, File
Editorial
EDITORIAL
Warriors fans might well be right: It’s plausible that NRL referees unconsciously favour Aussie teams playing against the sole Kiwi side in the competition.
It certainly feels that way – it’s not so much that 50/50 calls go against the team from Mt Smart, it’s the steady flow ofnine-times-out-of-10 calls that raises the eyebrows.
Don’t expect anything to change in a hurry. Jason Paris’ impassioned and possibly foolhardy declaration of “cheating” last weekend had defamation lawyers on both sides of the Tasman tuning in. It’s possible the One NZ CEO knew Warriors boss Cam George planned a trip to Sydney with a dossier of bad calls to discuss with NRL bosses, and wanted to lend voluble support to the mission.
But Paris’ words – and regular gripes from Warriors fans – will garner little support in Australia. League fans there watch the Warriors twice a year, when their side faces them in regular-season play. (The only team to face them a third time since 2011 was Penrith who dispatched them in the first round of knockout matches in 2018.)
So, while Warriors fans lament the flow of bad calls each week, your average Aussie league fan sees them flicker on screens twice a year; grumbling about refereeing calls is easy to ignore. If Aussie fans, media, and commentators don’t care, don’t expect the NRL to get involved.
After all, the Warriors’ real issue isn’t the refereeing; it’s an inability to deliver from rugby league’s greatest talent pool.
