Referees boss Tony Archer has confirmed his charges made a number of officiating blunders in round 13 of the NRL last weekend.
At the halfway point of the 2015 competition, the performances of the game's whistleblowers continue to come under heavy criticism, brought about by a number of contentions decisions.
Among those was a try awarded to Wests Tigers utility Chris Lawrence in the second half of the joint venture's loss to Gold Coast on Friday, a try to South Sydney three-quarter Bryson Goodwin early in the thumping of the Warriors in Perth on Saturday and a tackle on Josh Dugan in St George Illawarra's loss to Canterbury on Monday.
In his weekly video address, Archer has confirmed that Goodwin's try, before which he was run down by Shaun Johnson and appeared held, but was allowed to get up and play on by referees Jared Maxwell and Chris Butler and score, should not have been allowed.
"He was held," Archer said.
"At that point he was tackled, there is still contact on the player on the ground."
Archer also asserted that Josh Reynolds should have been penalised by referees Gerard Sutton and Chris James when the Bulldogs utility lifted Dugan in a tackle into the in-goal in a crucial period of Monday's match.
"At that point of time when Reynolds extended his leg he should have called held and if Reynolds continued it would be a penalty," Archer said.
Just as contentious was Lawrence's four-pointer late at Leichhardt Oval, awarded despite fullback James Tedesco appearing to knock the ball on in the lead up.
Archer stopped short of saying the right decision was made, instead mounting an unconvincing case for why the try was awarded after the on-field referee motioned with the 'T' try sign before sending the decision upstairs.
"I understand why the video referee didn't have sufficient evidence to overturn that," he said.
"I understand how they came up with that decision."
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