The Warriors have put last weekend's officiating shocker behind them, Details around test cricket's World Test Championship have emerged and Jordie Barrett signs with NZR until 2022
The Warriors' controversial 24-22 loss to the Eels has once again shone a light on poor refereeing decisions in the NRL.
Warriors coach Stephen Kearney slammed the refs after the game, while politely adding that the NRL's new rule around stripping the ball should "piss off" out of the game if it can't be interpreted properly.
Yesterday, the NRL announced that the four officials in charge of the match have been punished after making three crucial mistakes against the Warriors – two errors on stripping incidents and a knock on that was missed which resulted in a try.
NRL head of elite football Graham Annesley admitted, not for the first time this season, that the Warriors were on the wrong end of bad refereeing decisions.
"There were the other incidents we looked at, which were critical incidents and did have an impact on the outcome of the game. As a result of that ... the four officials involved in that game will all be relegated for next weekend's round of NRL.
"A lot of those incidents were on the ball incidents that the referees should have picked up. The others, the touch judges were there to assist and all four officials have been involved in those errors."
Gerard Beale reacts after his try is disallowed. Photo / Photosport
What's worse for Warriors fans is that this wasn't the first time the NRL has admitted that the New Zealand side were robbed by the referees this season.
It's left fans feeling aggrieved, forced to reckon with the prospect of missing NRL finals footy completely instead of, well, probably getting heartbroken in the first week of the playoffs.
As a helpful reminder of what could have been, here are four other occasions where the NRL has admitted to getting calls wrong against the Warriors this season.
Warriors 40-6 Bulldogs – 16 March 2019
In a game that feels like a decade ago, the Warriors thrashed the Bulldogs 40-6 at Mt Smart Stadium in their NRL season opener.
Despite the win, Kearney was not happy with one decision during a mid-air collision involving winger David Fusitu'a.
The Warriors coach asked for a "please explain" from the head of referees Bernard Sutton, and emailed footage of the potentially nasty incident – where Fusitu'a's legs was taken out while still in mid-air, flipping the Tongan winger, who only narrowly avoided landing on his neck – to the NRL.
The Warriors lost to the Storm in a dramatic Anzac day clash, where Storm halfback Brodie Croft kicked a stunning field goal from 40m out, bouncing it off the post, to give the Melbourne side a 13-12 victory.
The Warriors were up 12-10 with just under five minutes to go, when Storm prop Jesse Bromwich made a mess of a quick play-the-ball and seemed to drop the ball forward.
However, the Warriors defenders were ruled to have held Bromwich down for too long, with the Storm receiving a penalty 20m out in front of the goals.
Annesley acknowledged that the referee should have called a knock-on and give the Warriors a scrum feed, which would've likely led to a crucial Warriors win.
Agnatius Paasi. Photo / Photosport
Warriors 18-19 Panthers – 30 June 2019
The Panthers stole a golden-point victory against the Warriors in yet another game filled with referee controversy.
Annesley was once again forced to admit that the refs made several errors, one which went against the Warriors and two which benefitted them.
Penrith's Liam Martin was somehow allowed to return from the sin-bin nearly two minutes early.
However, two other decisions went against the Panthers: a sin bin for Jarome Luai and a wrongly awarded Fusitu'a try in the corner – where the Warriors winger's hand was clearly on the touchline but was missed by the refs.
Knights 20-24 Warriors – 6 July 2019
It was yet another last minute encounter, but this time the Warriors were victors when Sam Lisone crashed over in the 75th minute to snatch a 24-20 win.
But a worrying incident happened earlier when Peta Hiku was allowed to continue playing after receiving a head knock right in front of assistant referee Gavin Badger.
After the game, referees Badger and Adam Gee were dropped for failing to halt play after Hiku suffered a concussion.
Here's Annesley once again explaining where his referees went wrong: "They were aware that he had suffered a head knock, they were aware that he was on the ground and they should have stopped play at that tackle before the play-the-ball. They had time to do that."
