Penrith punish rusty Roosters
92 mins ago | Aidan Edgecomb
Brisbane officials have uncovered more than 100 examples of interchange breaches in the last 12 months and are set to provide the NRL with the video evidence in a bid to retain the premiership points from last Sunday?s clash with the Wests Tigers.
However, Broncos chief executive Bruno Cullen said while the video evidence made it obvious to most that the team?s indiscretion was a minor one he was not confident the NRL would reverse their decision.
Mr Cullen was obviously angry when he spoke to the media at Red Hill, claiming the league had unfairly used the Broncos to ?prove a point?.
"All day yesterday it never entered my head the NRL would strip us of two points,? Mr Cullen said.
?Instead we got smashed and I can tell you it has shattered my confidence in fairness and the due process.
"I believe we have an excellent case but whether the people at the NRL see it the same way is another matter."
The club was also unhappy with suggestions the trainers attending to injured prop Shane Webcke should have told the referee to stop the play.
Referee Shayne Hayne had stopped play previously and restarted it while Webcke was still being monitored by the medical staff, who were concentrating on the well-being of the obviously distressed Australian front-rower.
Mr Cullen said common sense suggested the match should not have been allowed to continue as Webcke was obviously unable to join the play due to an illegal tackle, which saw an opposition player penalised and reported.
While several commentators supported the claim that Hayne should not have allowed play to restart, referee boss Robert Finch lashed out ? directing his anger towards the Broncos.
"They want referees to be timekeeper, interchange official and referee the game," said Finch, whose charges have been under fire for a series of errors in recent weeks.
"I get very disappointed with all that because they're just an easy target. Anything that goes wrong, it's the referees' fault.
"We have always been accountable for any errors that we have made, but I'm not taking the heat for errors that other people make."
Mr Cullen also suggested the fact the change was not an official interchange, but rather a separate player swap because of the report, would be part of the Broncos submission.