The fake news that’s actually fake.
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has announced the immediate scrapping of the controversial Bunker.
The final straw came after Shannon Boyd’s no try in Canberra’s 48-12 win over Wests Tigers.
“I was watching the game with Peter Beattie and Beats blew up deluxe. He said, ‘that was a definite touchdown for the Canberra Steelers.’ Beattie knows incompetence, so I realised that was it for the Bunker.”
From round 16, the Bunker is replaced with at-ground video referees. For reduced complication, on-field refs will no longer rule ‘try’/’no try’ before going upstairs.
“One man or woman in a box, making their independent decision. Nice and simple,” Greenberg said. “Assuming they can tell the difference between the green and red buttons, they’ll be fine.”
The new video referees will be picked from reserve referees, while ex-Bunker officials will join a new ‘Very Important Referees’ Advisory Board’.
“I didn’t trust the Bunker officials to become solo video referees, so I created a meaningless position to keep them busy,” Greenberg said.
NRL referees boss Bernard Sutton is horrified by the decision. “Dangerously incompetent refereeing is the NRL’s lifeblood. Without it, punters would talk about AFL, rugby union or even soccer. I was so upset Gerry (brother Gerard Sutton) cut short his coaching session at Broncos training to console me. He’s such a good brother.”
The Forward Pass is a fictional and deliberately ridiculous look at the NRL. References to real people is for satirical purposes only. Check it out on Twitter @thefwdpass
