NRL referees boss Tony Archer says the bunker made the right call in awarding a try to Will Hopoate, after a pass from Tony Williams that left many scratching their head, in the Bulldogs win over the Dragons at ANZ Stadium.
Williams was ruled by the bunker to have accidentally knocked the ball forward in the lead-up to the try in the 60th minute during the Bulldogs 34-16 win.
The play had everyone talking and on Tuesday in his weekly review, Archer said his match review officials made the correct call in ruling play on after the Williams effort.
Archer said because Williams didn't deliberately propel the ball forward in the lead up to Hopoate's try, the bunker made the right decision.
"It was a really unusual incident and for a player to be penalised for throwing a ball forward or deliberately knocking the ball on, he has to have some level of intent," Archer said.
“You can see that Tony Williams attempts to pass the ball backwards. The ball comes off his left hand and goes in a forward direction. For it to constitute a knock on, it has to hit an opposing player or a teammate has to receive the ball. In this Instance, Tony Williams recovers the knock on and passes the ball inside to Hopoate who claims a try.
"It was reviewed by the bunker, they need to determine it was a deliberate act of throwing the ball forward or knocking the ball forward to constitute a penalty.
"So the alternatives they had were either to determine that or give a try and ultimately they gave a try and I understand why they did when you apply the rule.”
