I realise this is going to be unpopular, because pretty much everybody I speak to seems to want it stopped, but personally it's something I've been in favour of since it was introduced, and I still am.

I remember before we had it, if there was no absolutely conclusive evidence either way that a try had been scored, then it was expected to be awarded as benefit of the doubt to the attacking team.

If that was the case now, then presumably the two tries that have gone against us in the last two weeks because the video referee couldn't find sufficient evidence to overturn the live call would still have been awarded?

If the video ref is 100% certain either way then they can overturn the call. If they're not, then before there was any call to overturn, then they were always supposed to award the try weren't they? At least this way there is still some onus on the on field referee to get it right in the first place.

If that try last night was sent to the video ref without the on field ref saying what he thought, and was then awarded by benefit of the doubt, we would simply be angry with the video ref instead of the on field ref wouldn't we? What would be the benefit to getting rid of the current system?

Stop the I've got a try or no try just hand it upstairs to the vid ref and let him do his job and decide.

I think maybe the job of the ref & video ref would be helped if a different coloured ball was used , a colour that would stand out against the pich & under a pile of bodies.

I don't know how much was made of it in the post match reaction over there, but I must admit Melbourne were robbed of a try this morning because it was sent up as no try, but for me there really was enough evidence with that one to overturn it, because it clearly looked down. Surely that would have been given if it was just referred with no on field decision.

It also highlights that the Aussie officials can be just as incompetent as ours, because there's no higher level than the NRL Grand Final, and that was a massive and highly costly mistake for me.

Ashley Klein the Aussie official involved refed over here for several season earlier in his career.

Their officials are tied down with the same silly rule as ours are, where they are instructed to guess if a try has been scored before asking the Video Ref. to investigate the incident.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Definitely grounded, but for some strange reason didn’t dwell on the footage that showed it,

This 100% is exactly what i think, don't sway the outcome, just hand it upstairs and say i'm not sure could you have a good look and let me know if it is or isn't.

and if it's inconclusive?

I'm not saying that the current protocol is ideal and there needs to be a review but I'm not sure how it can be improved Benefit of the Doubt to whom?

There are about 2 dozen cameras available for the bunker to help with decisions.
The NRL subsequently invited journalists and other interested parties to view a large screen and other camera footage which clearly showed that an arm underneath the ball stopped the ball ever touching the ground thereby justifying the decision of the bunker to rule no try.
This footage was not shown on live TV.

I am a long time Penrith fan who went to the game and also watched a replay of the incident which I also thought showed the ball being grounded. The other camera footage changed my mind and I believe has silenced people saying Melbourne were robbed of a try.

Ps. On another RL forum I tipped Melbourne to win!

Fair enough, although you would think they would show that footage to ensure there's no controversy. Strange one.

It was always BOTD to the attacker wasn't it, meaning Burgess' try on Friday would have been awarded unless they could be 100% certain it hadn't been grounded?

If they could be 100% certain, then they could have overturned the live call.

Essentially, I think with that particular try we would have just ended up complaining about the video ref rather than the on field ref. The try would have been given despite there clearly bring a lot of doubt. I personally like that there is still some onus on the match referee to make a decision.

Benefit of the doubt is always to the attacking side and that is correct. Referee should just refer it and let the video ref decide on the footage.

If possible invest in some higher quality, higher frame rate cameras.

Benefit of the doubt is very different to needing clear evidence to overturn a decision in my view. We'll never know but I think there was enough on the video to suggest - and this is a key difference between current and preferred method in my view - that in all probability it was unlikely the ball got down. The video ref wouldn't have to see the ball held up to not award the try - he's got greater ability to apply the percentages in terms of how likely it was a try was scored.

It can't be right that a ref sends a call up to the video ref when he has no idea whether it was a try or not.

....and by the way, I was in favour of this method initially as it meant the referee had to actually make a decision instead of taking the easy way out of 'sending it upstairs'. But as often happens the change caused other problems and has led (IMO) with a method that is worse than it was before. Let's have the video ref and referee communicating together to get the most accurate result, without that initial Try/No Try call.

I think it would be fair for the on-field ref to be able to send them up as try/no-try/don't know. Stick with clear evidence to overrule where the on-field ref is basically sure and just wants to rubber stamp it, and let the video ref use best judgement/apply benefit of the doubt where the on-field ref is less sure.

I'd prefer it to go upstairs without any pre-judgement (as it used to be originally) and have one central permanent video ref who does all matches, so all decisions are consistent. As it stands it's just pot luck as to what you get. It's an unprofessional farce.