Tim Roby stood down by NRL following missed controversial call

Josh McAllister

The NRL have stood down English referee Tim Roby following the missed forward pass that led to Cronulla’s late win over New Zealand Warriors.

Edrick Lee scored the controversial match-winning try in the 77th minute, which saw the Sharks claim the two-points at Mt Smart Stadium with a 18-15 victory.

Adam Gee, who has been involved in more than 90 first-grade games, was the man in the middle and referred the call upstairs and Henry Perenara awarded the try with no power of the forward pass call.

It has caused conflict in the media, and the NRL have stood down Roby for this weekend’s action, whilst demoting Gee to touch judge.

“The referee and touch judge at the centre of the controversial decision to award Cronulla the match-winning try against the Warriors last week have been held accountable for the call,” an article on NRL.com read.

“Referee Adam Gee has been demoted to assistant referee, while touch judge Tim Roby hasn’t been given a match this weekend following the forward pass from Ricky Leutele to Edrick Lee that went unnoticed.”

Debates that video referees should call on forward passes are on-going, but Cronulla will keep the two-points in the NRL ladder which sees them 7th, whilst the win could have seen the Warriors move up to joint-second with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.

 

NRL Adam Gee