Vision emerges of 'illegal' play that helped Bulldogs come back to beat Raiders

Yahoo

11-05-2025

Questions have emerged about whether the officials missed an illegal play from Reed Mahoney that helped the Bulldogs come back to beat the Raiders in stunning scenes on Saturday. The Bulldogs erased a 20-0 deficit to win 32-20, stunning Canberra at home with a second-half blitz.
The Raiders scored four tries in the first half and looked well on their way to beating the ladder-leaders. But Stephen Crichton sparked a staggering turnaround as the Dogs scored six tries unanswered in the second.
But some fans are questioning whether the Bulldogs' fourth try should have been called back. With the Raiders still leading 20-16, the Bulldogs marched downfield and Max King crashed over to give his team the lead.
But vision has emerged of a moment in the lead-up play that suggests the Raiders should have been awarded a penalty. Mahoney received the ball from a Jacob Kiraz offload, before firing a cut-out pass to Bronson Xerri that saw him make a break and stream downfield.
Two plays later, Toby Sexton threw a lovely inside ball for King to crash over near the sticks. It gave the Bulldogs a 22-20 lead, and they never looked back.
But there have been suggestions that Mahoney should have been pinged for a penalty before he sent Xerri racing away. The hooker was in front of the point where Crichton played the ball, meaning he should have been deemed out of play and not allowed to get involved. He did seem to retreat and nearly got in line with where Crichton played it, but the Bunker could have easily deemed him off-side.
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Under the NRL rules, players getting back on-side from kicks must retreat to the point where the ball is played, otherwise they can't get involved. Mahoney walked back a few more steps after Crichton played it, but didn't appear to retreat far enough to be deemed in play.
His actions were crucial in setting up the game-changing try, but many on social media were quick to suggest it shouldn't have been allowed. A penalty to the Raiders would have seen them kick a goal for a 22-16 lead, but more importantly it would have stopped the wave of momentum the Bulldogs had. Had the try been disallowed, who knows what it would have done for the Raiders' mindset.
He must retire behind where the ball was played. A player cannot put him onside. He goes close but I personally don't think he gets there. I'd give a penalty to Raiders pic.twitter.com/ev6UeHhVkO
— TheRulebook (@TheRulebook101) May 11, 2025
No if you're not behind the play the ball you are out of play till next play the ball
— RAMDAWG_AUS UpTheWahs (@k5tafea) May 11, 2025
Many will say they should never have blown a 20-point lead in the first place, and good teams never find themselves in that situation. But it could have been a complete game-changer had the officials deemed Mahoney off-side and out of play.