The NRL has admitted it got one of the biggest calls of the State of Origin decider wrong. Now, one of the game’s greatest players believes it’s time for a serious review of the Bunker itself.
Less than 24 hours after New South Wales defeated Queensland 30-12 to reclaim the Origin shield, the NRL confirmed Bradman Best’s crucial second-half try should not have been awarded after determining Jack Bostock had, in fact, touched the ball in the lead-up.
The admission has reignited debate over whether the Bunker system is delivering on the promise it was introduced to fulfil.
Speaking on Channel Nine’s Origin coverage, Queensland great Cameron Smith did not hold back.
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“If that’s touched his hand and it’s proved to have touched it, we need a serious review of the Bunker, a serious review of the Bunker now,” Smith said on Channel Nine.
Smith questioned how such an important decision could be missed despite the technology available.
“We spent a lot of money on it. We put trust in people to sit in there and make the right decision. That’s why we have this technology,” Smith said on Channel Nine.
His frustration wasn’t shared by Queensland figures alone.
Speaking on Fox League’s Decider Debrief, Cooper Cronk also believed the evidence clearly showed Bostock got a fingertip to the football.
“That just can’t happen,” Cronk said on Fox League’s Decider Debrief, adding that the available replays appeared to show the ball touching Bostock’s fingers.
Greg Alexander reached a similar conclusion during the same program, noting the incident came at one of the most pivotal moments of the match.
The controversy has only been magnified by questions surrounding the vision available to officials.
During the broadcast, viewers were told the Bunker relied on a corner-post camera angle that wasn’t shown publicly. The NRL later acknowledged that, after reviewing all available footage following the match, the ball “appeared to be touched” and the correct ruling should have been a knock-on.
There was another complication.
A telecommunications outage before kick-off meant the Bunker was operating from a broadcast truck at Suncorp Stadium rather than its usual centralised facility in Sydney. While the NRL has not said this affected the decision, the unusual circumstances have inevitably become part of the discussion.
To be clear, even Smith conceded the call probably didn’t decide the series.
Queensland still trailed by 10 points when the try was awarded, and Billy Slater refused to blame the officiating for the Maroons’ defeat.
But that’s not really the point.
The issue is confidence.
The Bunker exists to eliminate clear errors in the biggest moments. When the NRL itself publicly admits a match-defining decision was wrong, it’s reasonable for players, coaches and fans to question whether the current review process is working as intended.
This also isn’t an isolated incident.
Only last week, the NRL acknowledged another incorrect Bunker decision involving Canberra’s Xavier Savage, while Dragons interim coach Dean Young responded by suggesting the introduction of a shot clock for reviews to prevent officials from repeatedly analysing the same incident.
Technology was supposed to remove controversy from rugby league.
Instead, it often feels as though it’s simply changing the arguments.
No system will ever be perfect.
But if the biggest game of the year can produce an admitted error despite multiple camera angles and a dedicated video review official, perhaps Cameron Smith is right.
The conversation should no longer be about one missed call.
It should be about whether the Bunker, in its current form, is giving the game what it was designed to provide.
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