The NRL has been trialling ball-tracking technology which could revolutionise the was forward passes are adjudicated on.

Or it could be another grey area for the game as it gets too technical for its own good.

Footballs were implanted with a small device during the NRLW competition which tracks their movement through the air.

Recommendations will be presented to the ARL Commission on whether the trial was successful before a decision will be made whether it is used in the NRL for all forward passes, only in try-scoring movements or not at all.

The technology also has the capability to rule on 40-20 kicks, whether a a ball bouncing over the cornerpost went touch in-goal or if an attempted try has reached the line.

The Roar experts have their say and if you’d like to do likewise, fire away in the comments section below.

Experts Roar – player transfers

Michael Hagan (premiership-winning player and coach)

It’s a tricky one. I think it should only be used in try-scoring plays otherwise we’ll be pulling up the game too often.

You’ve still got humans involved, haven’t you, so it won’t be foolproof. If it’s close, let it go but if it’s an obvious forward pass, that’s when you need to step in.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

Paul Suttor (Roar expert)

Why not give it a try. Apparently the boffins can adjust the degree for which they call a forward pass so in theory you wouldn’t suddenly have an influx of every second pass being called forward.

It won’t be much use if there’s too much of a grey area in the margin of difference – it needs to be laser accurate or it’s only going to cause more problems.

If the technology is such that the instant a pass goes forward, the referee can be alerted then it could be used for any forward pass but if it takes anything more than a few seconds, stick with the current system.

Forward passes are not a blight on the game but it only takes one to be let through in a crucial stage in a game for an outcry from the outrage brigade to demand heads should roll.

AJ Mithen (Roar expert)

A hundred times, no. There’s not one example of ‘forward pass technology’ that has proven effective live to air and although the NRL might think they’ve cracked the code, I’d be astonished if they’ve managed to do so.

What would be even more madness is if they decide to only use it in certain situations like try-scoring plays or captain’s challenges. It’s every pass or none of them, but letting 98% of the infractions go would be a very NRL approach to rule application. If you thought the bunker was copping it until now, just imagine when they rule a pass forward by centimetres, based on a system loaded with margins for error.

Stephen Crichton scores a try during the round seven NRL match between the Panthers and the Canberra Raiders at BlueBet Stadium. (Photo by Matt Blyth/Getty Images)

Danielle Smith (Roar expert)

Absolutely, and use it for the whole game. If you have a tool at your disposal that will make something better, why would you not use it? I stopped counting the forward passes that didn’t get called over the weekend, it would have been great if they were pulled up.

And don’t whinge at me that ‘we already have a ref and two touch judges, they should be able to call a forward pass’. They are human, and obviously make mistakes. Like the footy players who throw the forward passes – they aren’t supposed to, they train all week not to, but sometimes they still do. 

Mary Konstantopoulos (Ladies Who League)

We seem to be at a place as footy fans where we want every refereeing decision to be correct but we also want it all done quickly too, getting cranky because there are too many stoppages in the game.

I don’t think this is technology we need and I’m comfortable with the way referees are ruling forward passes now.

I would be also interested to find out how much has been invested into this technology – could this money have been better spent elsewhere?

Stuart Thomas (Roar expert)

The Australian-invented Hawkeye technology has proven a resounding success in tennis, with something of a pointlessness now existing when it comes to the questioning of close calls.

Of course, the players have found other ways to engage with and subsequently abuse officialdom in recent times, thus alluding to a general need for professional athletes to vent when under pressure and feeling frustrated. The notion of forward passes in the NRL being adjudicated upon with similar accuracy is an appealing one, yet concerns around how the process would be formally implemented are numerous.

Key questions around which passes are actually checked, whether captain’s challenges should be used to do so and the time taken for decisions to be finalised are all fair and relevant. The processes around the use of what we now know as the bunker have been changed many times over the years and the chances are that Hawkeye’s forward pass decision making would also be an imperfect science to begin with.

I am still to be convinced that any such system could successfullly deal with a pass that leaves the hands legally and floats forward. Should the ARL Commission be able to overcome that challenge it might work, yet many will detest what could become just another layer of confusion in a game that is becoming increasingly over-officiated. 

Mike Meehall Wood (Roar expert)

We absolutely don’t need more excuses for the game to be slowed down. Technology hasn’t stopped arguing over a hundred other things that keep many media outlets in content so I’m not sure that anyone needs more of that.

Also, I don’t think that it’s an issue that the refs/touchies actually get wrong that frequently. I guess there’s always the idea of getting better, but for me, I don’t miss the lack of video reffing at NSW Cup so I don’t really mind. It rarely makes any difference.