Would it matter is O'Loughlin has committed the offence from an illegal drop out? I think it would as it surely must be considered as a trip which is if I'm right is not a sin binning but a sending off offence.



Just watching the NRL on Premier and the video ref calls the on field officials attention to anything they have missed, why we don't do this more over here is beyond me.

You were as good as Wigan allowed you to be. I'm sorry but you will never be a force whilst you have Rangi Chase in the team just look at Cas as proof! controversial comment I know because he is a great player, however if you want to play a structured game plan as is obvious what Iestyn Harris wants, then you can't do that with an "off the cuff" half back. I do think you will have a little more stability with Dobson but Dobson would need to control the play and leave Rangi to his last tackle plays.

Makes me laugh with all the 'illegal drop-out' nonsense, and he tried to kick the ball. I understand one group of fans will see the incident differently as by nature you want to defend the actions of your team. What SOL did was a reckless challenge regardless of his intent. The fact that nearly every RL fan calls it that way except Wigan fans tells you a lot. Wigan fans are being intellectually dishonest if they can't see a blatant incident like that one should have been penalised.



It may or may not have changed anything in the game, I just find it amazing that everyone watching the game can see it, but the ref does nothing and gets no calls from his helpers. Shocking really.

We'll said Butcher.

Did the referee hesitate because he knew that by the laws of the game tripping in an automatic red card? I just find it laughable that the referees assistant wanted his twopenath over a very dubious offload call but fails miserably to notice something much more obvious like the two footed horizontal jump by O'Loughlin.



It isn't sour grapes because Wigan were far superior on the night and I just don't think they needed the extra help they got from the match officials.

Why is the illegal drop out 'nonsense'. There are rules which state the ball should be drop kicked not grubbered which is what he did. I'm not sure whether that should have resulted in a penalty to Wigan or Chase told to re-take the drop out, maybe that's one to ask the refs on twitter.



As the drop out was incorrectly allowed it then results in the SOL incident. There are very few Wigan fans who have said it shouldn't have been a penalty as it should have. That decision was incorrect too. What we are saying (and it's not just Wigan fans as you suggest) and correctly IMO is the suggestions it was a deliberate trip etc are wrong. He was trying to kick the ball, didn't get there in time and ended up taking Chase out instead. A penalty, yes. Anything more, no.



As we are on the subject of bad ref calls you weren't the only team on the receiving end. There is a very strong case for a penalty try when Smith was taken out. Griffin also stamped on Flower's chest. Just two examples without really thinking about it.

He went to kick the ball, Chase caught Wigan off guard and he went to kick the ball back to his team mate, it wasn't a trip it was an attempt to get the ball and mis timed it that's about it, does it warrant a penalty? maybe, did it change the outcome of the game? no. We could argue that Hansen took out Smith behind the sticks when he was going for the loose ball to score a try but we didn't get the call from the ref, swings and roundabouts really.

The O'loughlin incident is rather unique and perhaps it caused confusion amongst the match officials? I can't ever recall a similar incident in RL where a player takes out an opponent (Deliberate or accidently?) with two outstretched legs off the floor. Personally I think to dive for the ball would have been a much more natural reaction.

It was a strange decision to go for the short drop out. It was only 6-0 at the time, and the drop out came from a kick and chase from halfway so it's not like we had been pinned on our line in the previous set.



Could understand it if it was later in the game but I don't think it was desperate for us to regain possession at that time.

At the the time of the incident Wigan were having much more possession and territory. I think Chase felt he had a good opportunity to regain the ball and relieve some pressure.

If it had been a tackle in the traditional sense on a kicker it would have very late, even later than Tasi on Brough, which would have resulted in a penalty to Salford and on report.



The ref didn't even see what was going on.



wouldn't have changed the final result but might have been a little different in the way we approached the game.

Did O'Loughlin deliberately take out Chase,to prevent him from gaining possession of the ball?

I await the judiciary's view with interest.