NRL: Referees boss rules on controversial non-call, as struggling Warriors search for answers

It's hardly the news the Warriors fans wanted to hear, as they desperately search for a reason behind the club's third consecutive loss.

Wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was taken out in the air during the team's loss to Newcastle - the Warriors denied what many believe should have been a penalty try.

Coach Andrew Webster sought clarity on the ruling and he got it on Monday, when NRL referees boss Graham Annesley gave his assessment.

"The rules make it very clear," said Annesley at his weekly review.  

"That's a decision that either the referee, if the referee had make the decision based on what they saw live or the bunker, on a review, have to determine whether a try would've been scored.  

"Not could've - would've."

Regardless of the decision, there are clear issues plaguing the Warriors, as a former player offered a sobering assessment of a team that's well off their best.

"Just really ugly football," former Kiwi Ferns international Honey Hireme-Smiler said on Sky's post-match broadcast. "A couple of small positives to take out of there. But predominantly we were looking for an 80-minute performance, we barely got a 20-minute performance if I'm honest with you.

Defensively, the Warriors are giving away unnecessary penalties and allowing regular repeat sets, while on attack, they're lacking structure and making errors.

"At the moment, we're seeing them really deep on attack, and maybe we just move them a bit more shallow, not as deep and then attacking the line and playing more direct," ex-Kiwis and Warriors forward Adam Blair told Newshub.

"We were very good at playing the long game last year - putting other teams under pressure and it hard for them to come down our end. We don't have that right at the moment."

The team won't return home this week, instead choosing to stay in Sydney ahead of Sunday's match against the Roosters.

"You don't get too much time within the season to be able to get a group together and actually get the nitty gritty or get down and dirty around how can we get out of this trouble. So, this has come at the perfect time for them," Blair added.

A huge fortnight begins away with the tri-colours, before facing the three-time defending champion Panthers in Brisbane.

"If they can win these next two games, with the Roosters and then Penrith in Magic Round, everyone forgets about what's happened."

And after what's happened over the last month, that's exactly what Warriors fans want to do.

It's hardly the news the Warriors fans wanted to hear, as they desperately search for a reason behind the club's third consecutive loss.

Wing Dallin Watene-Zelezniak was taken out in the air during the team's loss to Newcastle - the Warriors denied what many believe should have been a penalty try.

Coach Andrew Webster sought clarity on the ruling and he got it on Monday, when NRL referees boss Graham Annesley gave his assessment.

"The rules make it very clear," said Annesley at his weekly review.  

"That's a decision that either the referee, if the referee had make the decision based on what they saw live or the bunker, on a review, have to determine whether a try would've been scored.  

"Not could've - would've."

Regardless of the decision, there are clear issues plaguing the Warriors, as a former player offered a sobering assessment of a team that's well off their best.

"Just really ugly football," former Kiwi Ferns international Honey Hireme-Smiler said on Sky's post-match broadcast. "A couple of small positives to take out of there. But predominantly we were looking for an 80-minute performance, we barely got a 20-minute performance if I'm honest with you.

Defensively, the Warriors are giving away unnecessary penalties and allowing regular repeat sets, while on attack, they're lacking structure and making errors.

"At the moment, we're seeing them really deep on attack, and maybe we just move them a bit more shallow, not as deep and then attacking the line and playing more direct," ex-Kiwis and Warriors forward Adam Blair told Newshub.

"We were very good at playing the long game last year - putting other teams under pressure and it hard for them to come down our end. We don't have that right at the moment."

The team won't return home this week, instead choosing to stay in Sydney ahead of Sunday's match against the Roosters.

"You don't get too much time within the season to be able to get a group together and actually get the nitty gritty or get down and dirty around how can we get out of this trouble. So, this has come at the perfect time for them," Blair added.

A huge fortnight begins away with the tri-colours, before facing the three-time defending champion Panthers in Brisbane.

"If they can win these next two games, with the Roosters and then Penrith in Magic Round, everyone forgets about what's happened."

And after what's happened over the last month, that's exactly what Warriors fans want to do.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.