‘Ridiculous’: NRL boss shuts down Bennett

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo says Wayne Bennett didn’t cross the line with his attack on the Bunker following Sunday’s loss to the Knights and insists video technology is as important as ever despite the legendary coach calling to get rid of it.

Bennett was furious after his side had a try taken off for obstruction in the first half when Trai Fuller was ruled to have taken advantage of a hole created by Connelly Lemuelu.

The game was scoreless at that stage but the Knights hit the lead five minutes later as they qualified for the finals and knocked the Dolphins out of top-eight contention in Bennett’s last game in charge before he joins the Rabbitohs.

“I feel sad for the teams going forward over the next four weeks in the sense that we can’t get it right and some other team will play a price for it,” Bennett said after the game, adamant that it was a poor defensive read rather than an illegal line.

“That’s not going to change unfortunately because they can’t get it right.

“It’s pretty clear cut. I think anyone who follows rugby league would accept that was a try.”

Speaking at the NRL finals launch in Sydney on Monday, Abdo said he “got the passion” but disagreed wholeheartedly with Bennett’s comments.

“I think it’s ridiculous to consider a sport not using technology to make decisions,” he said.

“If you think about all the decisions that are made with (tries) scored in the corners … we’ve seen the Bunker be really efficient, quick and accurate, and 99 per cent of the time they get it right.

“Then you’re going to get calls that are subjective. Obstruction is where we have guidelines, but it is ultimately a call that needs to be made.

“When you have lead runners take out defenders, you run the risk of that being called back and penalised.

“When I talk about the Bunker, it’s nothing more than a referee using technology to assist the on-field referee to make the right call for the fans.

“Talk that the Bunker is of no value, I don’t think that’s right.

“Wayne is one of the all-time great coaches of our game and he’s just been inducted into the Hall of Fame, so he’s entitled to his views and opinions.

“He’s talking about all he’s put into the season and he feels hard done by, and I can respect that.

“He hasn’t called into account the integrity of any of the officials so I don’t have any issue with him expressing his views.

“I don’t necessarily agree, but that’s his right.”

Meanwhile, Abdo says the decision to move Canterbury’s match from Saturday to Sunday afternoon wasn’t just because of an AFL finals match in the Olympic Park precinct on that night.

He’s hoping for a crowd in excess of 50,000 for the Sunday afternoon blockbuster, while he also closed the book on the Latrell Mitchell saga, confirming the Souths star will have to serve his ban in round 1 next year after the club fought hard for him to have last week’s loss to the Roosters count towards his suspension.

“We were really clear about it. Latrell had to serve a one-match suspension, and we wanted to make sure that he was fit and available to play,” Abdo said.

“We weren’t able to get the clarity we needed to come to that conclusion, and that matter is now closed.

“I wish him well in the off-season and hope that he comes back and has a great season next year because he’s a terrific player.”