Roosters offer mixed views on Bunker blunder try

Even the Sydney Roosters players are a little confused over whether teammate Sean O'Sullivan scored a try in his first NRL game, with winger Danial Tupou confessing it was "a lucky one".

As the Roosters were collecting their bags from the Sydney airport baggage carousel on Monday after arriving home from the 20-12 win over the Gold Coast, NRL referees boss Bernard Sutton was ruling that the 33rd-minute should have been disallowed.

He said the officials had determined that because the ball slid down the goal post behind O'Sullivan, it had been knocked backward. That was the position Roosters coach Trent Robinson maintained on Sunday in the post-match press conference and again to reporters on Monday.

"However, once it touched the ground it constituted a knock on and should have been ruled that way," Sutton said.

It had no bearing on the final result, but the controversy raged. Roosters players seemed to be having a bet each-way 24 hours after the match. 

"I reckon it was a lucky try, meaning that we'd never seen one like that," Tupou told NRL.com.
"Again I'm happy it got the green light because of the occasion – it was his debut and it was a close game."

Five-eighth Luke Keary wants a closer look at the replays again.

"I don't know, I haven't watched it back," Keary said on Monday. "But just from looking at it on the big screen we thought it was a try. I'd have to watch it back I reckon."

Lock Isaac Liu was willing to pass the judgment to higher authorities.

"Well the refs called it and I thought he did re-gather it," he said. "But it's on the refs – they called it."

Liu was firm in the belief of the win's significance – an away match with five key players out and three debutants in the line-up.

"Definitely it was a good win for us. We trained well and we wanted to play that Roosters footy even with the new boys in there and they did well," he said.

"It was crazy with all three [debutants] scoring tries. ... I was thinking 'Man this is a good win here'. All three scoring was pretty special."

Sutton also gave his version of events on a separate ruling that had Sea Eagles fans up in arms, when backrower Joel Thompson was ruled offside in the 14-13 loss to Storm on Saturday.

Sutton said the officials had made the correct call.

He said the ball travelled forward off Trent Hodkinson to Thompson, who was in an offside position.  Thompson deliberately played at the ball from an offside position.

"So it was a correct decision to award a penalty to the Storm," Sutton said.

Sutton also said the passes leading to tries by Poasa Faamausili [Roosters] and Suliasi Vunivalu [Storm} - that many felt were forward - were "judgment calls" made in real time with the officials in good positions to rule.