Des Hasler, Ricky Stuart argue before NRL rule Gold Coast Titans deserved penalty in loss to Canberra

When asked about the NRL’s admission the Titans should have received a crucial penalty for the charge-down, Hasler told this masthead: “You win some, you lose some. We have to move on.”

The words of NRL head of football Graham Annesley on Monday added another layer to the situation by vindicating one of Hasler’s post-match grievances.

“He [Chevy Stewart], in this instance, is offside,” Annesley said.

“It should have been picked up by the touch judges, who are monitoring the 10 metres, particularly in those sort of situations, and it’s a miss by the match officials.”

Hasler queried why the bunker didn’t review the decision but Annesley said it wasn’t in their power to do so.

“The bunker can’t review 10-metre compliance, and there’s a very good reason for that because in most parts of the field, depending on where the play-the-ball is, there’s no lines to assess,” he said.

‘He [Chevy Stewart], in this instance, is offside.’

NRL official Graham Annesley

“It’s almost impossible in between [the] lines to determine whether players are in front of the referee or not, particularly if they’re out wide.”

Annesley said referee Kasey Badger should have given the Titans a set restart, at the instruction of the touch judge, before Foran had attempted the field goal. Then, when the Titans knocked the ball on after the charge-down from Stewart, it would have resulted in a penalty to the Gold Coast because they didn’t get to play their advantage.

The offside wasn’t the only thing Hasler was upset about. He said Badger’s performance was “pretty poor” after his team conceded five penalties to three.

However, Annesley said the reality was both sides could have been sanctioned more often.

“There were more times where they infringed where they weren’t either sanctioned by way of six again or penalties – both sides,” he said.

“But there was a big number for the Titans because they did a lot more defending.”

Annesley acknowledged that the missed call happened at an unfortunate time.

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“When there are [refereeing] errors made, it always takes on much more meaning in close games, and also takes on much more meaning towards the end of games,” Annesley said.

“The only thing I’d say, and this is not by any means an excuse because I’ve already said that was a miss and should have been picked up, [but] there’s never one incident that determines the outcome of the game. There are hundreds of incidents that happen throughout the course of the game that ultimately lead to the outcome.”

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