After some poor officiating in their last match, The Warriors look to take out their frustrations on the Raiders this weekend
Fans were outraged, the Warriors' boss called for dress-up revenge and four officials were sacked.
That's the aftermath of last weekend's controversial NRL clash between the Warriors and the Parramatta Eels.
With the one-sided refereeing performance, which saw the Warriors lose 24-22, packed with inconsistencies and confusion, many have sincecalled for computer technology to be introduced into the game.
From a system being able to rule on forward passes to microchips tracking the ball, nothing has been left off the discussion table.
But although revealing such technology was indeed available, chief executive of Animation Research Ian Taylor told the Radio Sport Breakfast the biggest barrier was the cost.
A try was ruled out for a forward pass after a Roger Tuivasa-Sheck break. Photo / Photosport
"The technology certainly is there," Taylor said. "You would just be able to just click on the player's hands and the line would go out at right angles.
"We track golf balls using radar, in fact, top golfers put chips inside golf balls and track them [and] a rugby ball would be far easier. There's lots of technology around to do it, it's just a thing of cost value.
"The technology available now gives them a really good head start and I think you probably would be able to do something by next season ... but that stuff gets really expensive."
NRL head of football Graham Annesley told AAP that the game could look to introduce Hawkeye technology, currently used in cricket and tennis, as early as next year to rule on offsides.
NRL chief executive Graham Annesley speaks to the media. Photo / Getty
The NRL have been conducting trials on whether it could be used to determine if a player is offside during a kick-chase but it is not yet at a point to rule on forward passes.
Acknowledging the NRL's interest to introduce such systems as soon as possible, Taylor warned they shouldn't rush into things.
"When you see the consequences of a mistake like that, and they're happening more and more, it's a big deal to get those things wrong now," he said. "[but] what has happened in the past, they've gone and rushed off and ended up with hugely expensive solutions.
"I think now is the time to take a breather and look at the technology that currently exists."
Following the announcement that referees Chris Sutton and Chris Butler, and touch judges Clayton Sharpe and Adam Cassidy have all been relegated for the this weekend's round, Annesley remained adamant that confidence levels in the officiating ranks haven't been tainted.
"The confidence levels are as you would expect, it's a long season and we have been through a pretty difficult period," Annesley told AAP.
"We had a pretty good run for a long part of the season. We had a couple of weeks that weren't so good. They're pretty tough, they know their job, they know what comes with it, they all put their hand up for it."
The Warriors are set to face the Canberra Raiders at Mount Smart Stadium on Friday night.
