Ivan Cleary, the head coach of the Penrith Panthers, has voiced his concerns about the role of NRL officials in determining the significance of obstructions that impact the defensive line.
His remarks followed a contentious decision that allowed a try by Manly's Lehi Hopoate during an intense match in the final game of Round 9 at CommBank Stadium.
In the second half of the game, Hopoate crossed the try line for the Sea Eagles, but it seemed that Penrith's star halfback, Nathan Cleary, was obstructed as he tried to maneuver wide. Despite this, the bunker concluded that the obstruction did not influence the outcome of the try.
Cleary expressed doubts about officials' grasp of which obstructions should be deemed impactful, calling this a significant issue.
"(There were) almost two lead runners actually taking out a player who's actually heading towards where the ball's going," he stated in his post-match press conference.
"I think we've got a bit of an issue when officials are making decisions on whether it's affected the defensive line. Respectfully, I don't think that's something in their... do they learn how to do that when they're learning about refereeing?"
"I'm not sure about that. I don't know how you say that. I mean, you don't because it does."
"Certainly the way we defend, if you lose one of the guys on the inside it absolutely affects the rest of what's going on out there and I think it's pretty obvious that, as I said, he saw the ball, he was heading towards it."
"I think either one or two blokes clearly are in the way. So in other words, he was making a good decision."