What Gus Gould thinks is missing from this NRL field

Gus Gould has revealed why there are no posts to mark a 40/20 kick on the field after attempting to introduce a marker when the rule was made in 1997.

Gould, speaking on Fox Sports’ 100% Footy, said he campaigned to the rules committee a post should sit on the 20m sideline to help the touch judge signal the pinpoint kick, which would award the attacking team with a scrum.

The idea to have a marker came into question on Sunday when Dragons halfback Ben Hunt missed a 40/20 by a tiny margin against Parramatta at the new Bankwest Stadium.

Replays showed Hunt’s kick missed by the smallest of margins.

Gould said he pushed for a post to mark the 40/20 more than two decades ago, but was knocked back because the post was once considered out of touch.

“I said, ‘Put a corner post on there’,” Gould said on the panel.

“Now, there was a referee on this rules committee, who shall remain nameless – because he’ll look stupid. But Mick Stone said, ‘You can’t put a corner post on the 20-metre junction, because that’s deemed to be out of the field of play. What if someone brushed it?’

“Because in those days, the corner post was in play. If you hit the corner post, you were dead in goal.

“And he said, ‘We can’t put the corner post on the corner [of the 20m line]’. I said, ‘Let’s make it not in the field of play’.

“[Stone said], ‘Ah, you can’t have one corner post for this and you can’t have one corner post for that’.

So I said, ‘OK, let’s put it just outside the field of play, so it’s no touching the line, so it’s not in the field of play’.

“If someone brushes it with a hand, who cares? And if the ball hits that corner post, it means it wasn’t inside the 20.”

Gould said they knocked back the idea, but after further campaigning years later they introduced the rule the corner post is no longer deemed out of play.

Sharks captain Paul Gallen agreed with Gould a 20 post should be introduced and it also added advertising opportunities.

“I can’t believe the NRL haven’t stepped above the referees and said, ‘Hang on a second, we’ve got sponsorship opportunities, we’ve got a camera opportunity, and it’s a clear of whether it’s a 40-20 or not,” Gallen said after hearing Gould’s story.

“I actually think they got that one right (Hunt’s kick), I think it wasn’t a 40-20. But I agree [there should be a post].”

Gallen said it could be introduced for the 2020 season.

Parramatta Eels defeated the Dragons 32-18 at the new Bankwest Stadium.