What annoys me most about the game and everything that has come out of it, is the legacy it will have.
From now on, the Broncos will never win with the public.
If they cop a couple of dud decisions, no one will have an issue because it's 'karma'.
If we receive more favourable calls, the media will make it their mission to pressure the referees. This isn't the first time that's happened either. In the 90s, the media made a big deal about the Broncos success rate under Harrigan. All of a sudden, Harrigan started targeting the Broncos and we couldn't get a fair shake under him.
And of course if the Broncos go onto achieve the unlikely and win a premiership, the media will point to this game and how undeserving the Broncos were.
For mine, the whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. Did the Titans receive a couple of incorrect calls? Yes, but no where near as many as the referees would have you believe.
There was the Mead challenge on Oates, which was wrong. However, you see those penalties awarded all the time. As we saw on Saturday with the Rapana challenge on Holmes, if a player ends up in a dangerous position, the referees are most likely going to blow the whistle regardless of the chaser's intent.
Then you've got the Roberts kick. The way the media is carrying on, you'd swear it's a full blooded kick. It was a nudge and while it should have been penalised, calls for him to be sent off are way out of line. I also like how the media ignore Simpkins effort in the ruck. He was all over him like a cheap suit and crowded the play-the-ball. That's what Sutton saw and was concerned with. However, if you go on the media's interpretation, Roberts just got up and kicked a player because he felt like it.
Those were the two incorrect calls and seriously, neither were THAT bad. It wasn't like Cummins marching Gillett to the bin for being 30m onside or the hand of Foran or any of that rubbish.
The issue is, the media wants to muddy the water and add these other controversial calls into the mix.
The penalty try was 100% correct. Why are the media getting into a tizzy over that? As long as the ball is in the player's possession, it's considered an extension of their body. You can't kick to prevent the try and if you're willing to resort to foul play to prevent the try, then you've got to live with the consequences.
The scrum reversal was 100% correct. Sutton had no idea who it came off, so he referred it right away to the bunker. It obviously came off Pulu, and what would have been a dud decision was corrected. However, since Gus Gould has never liked the video referee and hates getting decisions correct it's the wrong call.
Hayne throws a forward pass, we can easily see this thanks to the 40m line to determine the ball goes at least a metre forward. Even the Fox commentary on replay came down off their high horse on that call. However, Freddy still has an issue with it and has the audacity to accuse the McCullough pass to Glenn being forward.
And you'd think if they were running the line through the referees, they'd call it both ways. Not one media outlet has discussed the Hoffman push in the back on Pearson (which was picked up on the Fox call, so it wasn't like it wasn't noticeable) and the Greg Bird drop which at best was a 50/50 decision.
Oh and that Parker headbutt. Please, would we even be discussing it if the 9 producers didn't zoom in on the scrum? We see that type of play happen all the time. In fact, there was a memorable example where Browne clearly targeted Burgess' broken cheek bone in the grand final. What was the decision then? Play on. That's one of those 'incorrect' decisions that's only received any play because of social media.
I don't think any Broncos fan would begrudge the Titans for feeling frustrated. There were some tough calls and after all the hard-work, you hate for those calls to go against your side in that situation. However, the reaction and the crap we've had to put up with is unwarranted.
