On Saturday night in Perpignan, Warrington Wolves defeated Catalans Dragons 16–8 with amazing results. With the victory putting them level with the top team in the league, the outcome solidifies the Wolves’ status as title contenders this season.
This season, Warrington has been outstanding under Sam Burgess. At the end of this season, they seem certain to have a spot at Old Trafford for the Super League Grand Final, having already guaranteed themselves a spot in the Challenge Cup Final.
Their victory in the French Riviera made a significant statement. Before the Wire’s most recent visit, Catalans had won every home game; the Grand Finalists from the previous season were notorious for being difficult to defeat at home, a characteristic shared by the Dragons in Super League.
However, they were defeated in the sweltering heat on their own patch—something that doesn’t often happen. Warrington played excellent defence and created the groundwork for the team to seize control of the game in the second half, exhibiting all the qualities head coach Burgess has throughout his career.
It was a competitive match till the very end, even with Catalans being a little off their game. Dragons manager Steve McNamara did not argue at the conclusion of the game, although there was one in-game call that favoured the opposition.
Catalans Dragons denied try against Warrington Wolves
Midway through the second half, with the score at 8-2, Catalans applied pressure to the Wolves defence until centre Arthur Romano was able to break through.
The French international stooped down low to crash over from close range, with Warrington defenders putting their bodies on the line to try prevent the four-pointer.
Though a fifty-fifty call, referee Chris Kendall sent the decision up to the video referee with a ‘no try’ on-field decision. After a review, Kendall’s call was backed by the video ref despite some angles showing Romano may have got the ball to the ground.
“The great thing about this moment from a Warrington Wolves perspective is the number of bodies in the frame as they try to keep Romano out. If I’m honest with you I thought Romano had scored,” said Carney.
He continued: “People have an issue now, it’s a debate within the game about the on-field referee giving his decision try or no try.
“I’m not necessarily opposed to that as I believe he’s closer to the action, but what I would say in that instance is that I don’t think the referee put himself in the very best position to see where the ball was before he sent it up.
“Given that he’s closest to the action, that’s what I would hope he would do. Get in and see did Rimano ground the ball and then relay that decision, ‘I’ve got the ball on the ground I’m going to send it up to you’.”
After that, pundit Kyle Amor addressed Carney, saying, “To be honest, I did think he got the ball down at first, but once it was flagged as ‘no try,’ all the evidence from the video referee made it very difficult to overturn that.”
Referees make mistakes, just like everyone else, so maybe the system is there in case they’re not quite in the right position at the right time to report something.
“It is ruled out, and as commentators, all we can do is bring up the outstanding defence that ensured it wasn’t a try.”
