Cameron Smith has questioned the future of the bunker in the NRL as the Queensland great tore into the decision to award NSW a late try in the State of...
By AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 09:44 EDT, 8 July 2026 | Updated: 09:44 EDT, 8 July 2026
Cameron Smith has questioned the future of the bunker in the NRL as the Queensland great tore into the decision to award NSW a late try in the State of Origin decider.
The Blues claimed the series 2-1 with a 30-12 win at Suncorp Stadium on Wednesday night but Smith raised concerns as to whether Bradman Best's breakaway try in the 57th minute should have been awarded.
As Queensland peppered the NSW line with a kick to the air, Jojo Fitita challenged Blues winger Jack Bostock to claim the ball.
Neither player could gather the ball in but replays appeared to show both players touched the ball before it fell forwards, away from the NSW line and Best scooped it up.
If Bostock had got a touch to the ball the try would have been ruled out for a knock on.
The NRL relayed through the Nine Network's commentary that a corner flag post camera had cleared Bostock of a knock on.
But Smith wasn't convinced and speaking on Nine's post-game show, the ex-Queensland captain said: "If that's touched his hand and it's proved to have touched it, we need a serious review of the bunker.
"I'm disappointed that Queensland lost. Would that have changed the result? Probably not. But it was at a pretty crucial point in the game.
"For the sake of the game, and I mean the NRL, the sport in general, I hope he hasn't touched it.
"I really hope he hasn't, but if he has, we need to sit down as a sport and make a decision on where we head with this bunker.
"We spent a lot of money on it. We put trust in people to sit in there and make the right decision.
"If we're not going to make the right decision in the big games, in the big moments, flick it."
Smith's fellow Nine pundit Andrew Johns also had doubts over the decision to award a try but often was critical of slow-motion replays informing crucial calls.
"Show it in real time, and if it looks like a try, get on with it," Johns said.
"But when I look at it and it does look like it gets a touch."
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