The NRL bunker is not going anywhere. As much as some might want to blow it up, that’s not going to happen.
And as much as I would love to live without technology, that’s not going to happen either. But rugby league can have a proper conversation about how we use it, and how we learn to live it.
I feel like a broken record saying it, but the fact is rugby league isn’t played in super slow-motion.
The opposite is the case: our game is forever chasing speed – a quicker ruck, fewer stoppages and a more entertaining product. So as fans, commentators, coaches, players and everyone with any stake in the game, we can and should speed up the bunker and how decisions are made.
But if we’re going to do that, then we have to live with the fact there could be an extra error or two. We can’t achieve perfection in our decision-making anyway and you can’t have things both ways.
My number one suggestion for the bunker? Reduce the use of super slow motion replays, and do it with definitive guidelines.
If two players go up in an aerial contest and are battling for the ball, the video referee can take one look at it with the super slow-motion, frame-by-frame replay. If there’s an obvious decision – the ball comes off a hand one way or the other, then great. Make the call and move on.
If it’s still inconclusive – and how many times have we watched a dozen, super slow-motion replays and ended up still not knowing what’s happened? – then we go to real-time replays.
The video referee can have a few extra looks to make their decision, but make it based on replays shown at regular speed, because this is how the game is played.
And if the ball has grazed someone’s finger, if there’s a slight touch of someone’s arm or thumb, but we have to spend two minutes trying to work that out and still don’t really have a clue, then do we really care?
Take the Bradman Best try in Origin when the NRL came out afterwards and ruled Jack Bostock had actually knocked on in the air, and that the bunker had got it wrong.
Or the two minutes we lost going back and forth over Will Kennedy’s try for Cronulla against Newcastle last Friday night, endlessly replaying the aerial contest between Ronaldo Mulitalo and Dominic Young.
Rugby league loves to point the finger at rugby union and the stop-start nature of the rival code. Our game is actively chasing every possible means of speeding up the contest and increasing fatigue.
It’s ridiculous to undermine that though by hitting pause, and having players standing around watching replay after replay on the big screen, especially given how often we end with an inconclusive verdict anyway.
If I was calling the shots at the NRL, I’d have the “one super slow-motion replay” rule for those aerial contests and tries where there’s uncertainty about a grounding – whether it’s a player regathering a bouncing ball or getting over the line while being swarmed by defenders.
The way we get the microscope out at the moment, look for a millimetre of separation, and talk about things like “re-gripping”, we’re just complicating an uncomplicated game.
The only time I want to be using super slow-motion replays is if the ball is close to the dead ball line, the sideline or going touch-in-goal.
When there’s a definitive line to work with, that’s where we can use the slow-motion because we’ve got a clear visual indicator to use.
But again, I say we use two or three replays, make a decision and learn to live with it.
The bunker’s never going away now. But we don’t need all the jargon and complications that we’ve added to its use either.
Do Penrith have a wet weather weakness?
Onto the footy, and having watched Penrith closely, I wonder if wet weather might be this champion team’s Achilles heel.
According to David Middleton, last week’s loss to Brisbane in the rain was their third from eight rain-affected games since 2024.
Granted, that’s not many at all. But wet weather closes the gap between teams because the conditions can make ball-handling unpredictable and produce more upsets.
Since 2020 when Penrith’s dynasty started, they’ve won 77 per cent of all their games. But that win percentage drops to 70 per cent when it rains – something to watch for now we’re through Origin and moving toward the NRL finals when they’re deserved premiership favourites.
The Panthers have lost three out of their last four games with a couple of byes in between throughout the Origin period, but I don’t see any reason to be alarmed about their form.
An NRL season is a marathon and generally it takes roughly a month after a big Origin series to shake off that mental and physical drain through the middle of the year. But as a player, you can then see the finals around the corner, the weather gets warmer, the days get longer and there’s a spring in your step.
Penrith do have a tough little stretch coming up after Thursday’s clash with Parramatta – who won’t be a push-over either – with games against the Raiders in Mudgee, the Warriors in New Zealand, the Storm in Melbourne and then the Roosters at home.
They then finish the regular season against Canterbury and Wests Tigers. So I think this next month will dictate how and when Ivan Cleary looks to rest his biggest stars before the finals.
Breaking down the Moses-Luai halves pairing
As for the Eels, I think they’ve been really solid over their past four games – they’ve beaten Manly and Canberra – despite missing at least seven regular first-graders.
Four of those have been middle forwards, including captain Junior Paulo, and both starting centres Will Penisini and Sean Russell.
You only have to look at how Brisbane and Canberra have shot the lights out with their best players back – who you can actually put on the paddock in the NRL makes all the difference.
For Parramatta fans, I think they’re still building well for next year, and I see Jarome Luai’s one-year deal to line up alongside Mitchell Moses working well. From a footballing perspective, Moses is predominantly a right-side playmaker and an on-ball halfback, similar to Nathan Cleary.
Luai obviously performs in that dynamic and, at his best, is a brilliant run threat on the left. I think his signing works and gives their young playmakers another 12 months to develop their craft without the pressure of week-to-week NRL.
On Thursday it’ll be a dry night and a quality, entertaining game given Parramatta love to move the ball around and Penrith are just Penrith – they can match anyone on that attacking front.
I think we’ll see plenty of points, particularly late in each half as the game opens up. This is where the Panthers’ class will shine through as well. Parramatta will be able to keep up early, but Penrith just have them covered for talent, cohesion and skill.
Joey’s tip: Panthers by 14
First try-scorer: Brian To’o
Man of the match: Nathan Cleary
Andrew Johns is an Immortal, a Newcastle great and a commentator for Channel Nine
