Klein, Ganson furore was almost inevitable

4:18pm Wednesday 26th November 2008

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Bulls boss Steve McNamara must have known just how Ricky Stuart was feeling.

The Australian coach is under investigation after apparently verbally abusing and physically and aggressively threatening referee Ashley Klein and RFL officials chief Stuart Cummings during a chance meeting in their Brisbane hotel.

The alleged incident is said to have happened the morning after the champions’ shock World Cup final defeat to New Zealand when Klein – and old sidekick Steve Ganson – were at the centre of some controversial decisions. Millennium Magic anyone?

It seemed bizarre at the time, given the absurdity of some of the calls witnessed, that Stuart, the first Aussie coach to lose the World Cup since 1972, didn’t immediately publicly chastise the pair after his side’s downfall.

McNamara couldn’t bite his tongue in Cardiff 18 months ago and probably would have done far worse if the bumbling duo had ever wandered into that press conference.

But Stuart went for humility and grace during the World Cup final aftermath and I, for one, was a little disappointed.

However, after sleeping on it and bumping into Klein in a hotel foyer the next day, away from prying media eyes, by all accounts he gave him what for. Good.

Back to the match though and it was all just a shame for me that what was a truly amazing contest worthy of the occasion was tinged by the decisions of the two officials.

New Zealand and Australia delivered an all-time classic, yet even when there’s no English involvement, this pair still managed to take centre stage. It was almost inevitable.

As much as the Kiwis richly deserved their success, and it was great to see the Aussies finally lose, I, for one, will always wonder what would have happened if video referee Ganson had NOT given that controversial 70th-minute penalty try.

It left the Kiwis two scores up and Australia broken but I’m still working out why he even managed to award it in the first place.

There's no doubt Kiwi Lance Hohaia was blatantly taken out by Joel Monaghan as he chased a kick into the in-goal area. Indeed, the Aussie winger could realistically feel himself lucky he didn't get red-carded for his offence.

But how could Ganson deem Hohaia would definitely have scored the try if he hadn't have been blocked?

The full-back might have beaten the covering Billy Slater to the bouncing ball - although that remains a huge doubt as well - but the key point is why did Ganson arrive at the conclusion the player would have actually grounded it too especially given two decisions he had already made earlier in the match?

Ganson rightly disallowed Darren Lockyer's first half effort after he fumbled trying to touch down a kick when everyone initially thought it was a try.

And earlier still, Hohaia himself had also bombed a smiliar chance behind the line under no pressure which Ganson correctly chalked off.

So what made Ganson believe - without a shadow of doubt - Hohaia would have not only reached the ball in the 70th minute but also touched it down correctly, bearing in mind he'd have been under fierce pressure from Slater. And that's if, of course, the Aussie No1 hadn't already cleared the danger.

No, there's too many ifs and buts there for me. A penalty try can only realistically be given if a player is actually in possession of the ball falling over the whitewash before it is illegally ripped from him. That was far from the case in Brisbane.