Questions have emerged about whether the Blues broke the rules.
Controversy has erupted in the aftermath of NSW’s victory in State of Origin 1, with suggestions the officials missed Dylan Edwards being in an off-side position when he scored the match-sealing try. Edwards latched onto a brilliant pass from Connor Watson to dive over and make the score 18-6 with just eight minutes remaining, putting to bed any hopes of a late Queensland comeback.
But a closer inspection of the match-sealing play has revealed Edwards was actually off-side and shouldn’t have been allowed to get involved in the play. The NSW fullback was at dummy-half on the play and threw the ball back to Nathan Cleary from just a metre out from the line.
Cleary then kicked to the wing for Zac Lomax, who caught the ball and threw it out the back for Watson, who in turn got a miracle pass away for Edwards to crash over. But on-field referee Ashley Klein and Bunker official Chris Butler appeared to miss the fact Edwards was off-side.
Edwards was in front of Cleary when the ball was kicked, and even though he tried to retreat back he was still within 10 metres of where Lomax caught the ball. Under NRL rules, players in front of the kicker can’t get within 10 metres of where the ball lands, unless they’ve retreated back behind where the ball was initially kicked.
Edwards never made it back to the point where Cleary kicked the ball, and was still within 10 metres when Lomax came down with it. This should have meant Edwards wasn’t allowed to get involved in the play, but the Bunker official cleared it and confirmed the try that was awarded by Klein on-field.
NRL fans question whether Dylan Edwards was off-side
The try made it a 12-point lead for NSW and buried Queensland’s hopes of making a late comeback. Even if the try had been disallowed the Blues still would have led by eight with little time remaining, but fans were quick to question whether Edwards’ actions were against the rules.
Can anyone show me Edwards being onside?” one person wrote on social media. “I’d be happy to be proven wrong if there’s an angle but, given he was at dummy half, he seemed to always be in front of Cleary.”
Another commented: “Rule states he has to retreat or stay 10m from where the ball lands or the kicker can run him onside to become active once played at. The ball lands 1-2m from the try line. That would make him inside the 10 and becomes clearly active in the play.”
It would have been a different story if one of the Queensland players had touched the ball, as this would have placed Edwards back on-side. But the only touches on the play came from Cleary, Lomax, Watson and Edwards – all NSW players.
Can anyone show me Edwards being onside? I’d be happy to be proven wrong if there’s an angle but, given he was at dummy half, he seemed to always be in front of Cleary.
