The botched play-the-ball is a rugby league favourite, offering some comic relief amidst the carnage of 110 kilogram frames slapping into each other at full speed. The Manly Sea Eagles weren't seeing the funny side of this classic play-the-ball fail over the weekend, however.With their round six clash against the St George-Illawarra Dragons only a few minutes old, Manly's Matthew Wright played the ball to no one allowing Dragons 5/8th, Gareth Widdop to scoop up the ball and score the only try on record in the NRL on the back of a botched play-the-ball.
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Manly and the Fox Sports broadcast team alike were left fuming by the video referee's decision not to check the interference on would-be dummy half, Daly Cherry Evans. Former rugby league great turned commentator, Michael Ennis, said he was "gobsmacked" by the decision."I can't believe how that's allowed to be a try. It's incredible.""Daly Cherry-Evans trying to get back to dummy half, Nightingale comes through and just scoops him out of the way. He's got no ability to get to dummy half and Widdop just picks up the ball and strolls over. It was unbelievable that it was allowed to be a try," he said.Cherry-Evans, meanwhile, could only engage in a painful passive-aggressive exchange with referee, Gavin Badger over his decision not to check for interference. For his part, Dragons winger, Jason Nightingale, is one of the most cunning players in the league, renowned for exceptionally quick thinking and gamesmanship. A bit of push and shove in a game like this is an ingenious way to conceal a professional foul. Argy-bargy is a ubiquitous sight in the game, it's rarely penalised, and who's to say who really started it anyway?In this case it was definitely Jason Nightingale but what was Manly fullback, Tom Trjobevic doing? At precisely the moment Nightingale and Cherry-Evans get tangled, he takes his eyes off the ruck and dummy-half is left unattended. Still, by the letter of the law you'd have to say it was a no-try.In any case, the Dragons went onto pummel Manly 35-10 in the remainder of the match. While Rugby League added yet another botched play-the-ball to its highlight reel.