A trio of league greats have been left baffled after the Bunker disallowed a try to Scott Sorensen in the first half of the Panthers' clash against the Broncos.
Penrith went on to win the game 15-4 in a clinical performance with Nathan Cleary making history, becoming the youngest player to score 1,300 points, but the game wasn't without controversy.
Sorensen thought he'd scored his team's second try of the night in the 32nd minute after swooping onto a loose ball near the try line, but the Bunker ruled that his left hand had knocked the ball on despite replays appearing to show a clean gather.
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"If that ball's touched the ground it's a try," Maroons great Paul Vautin said on Nine's NRL coverage.
"He's gathered that in I reckon. He gathered it into his chest, that's not a knock on champ! You're gathering."
Vautin doubled down post-game, continuing to express his confusion at the decision.
Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston were also unconvinced by the ruling, with Thurston saying the Panthers were "very hard done by".
"I thought it was a try," he said.
"He's done a tremendous job gathering the ball in, Sorensen. He's just picked the ball up there, no knock on in my eyes. They're very hard done by there, the Panthers."
"I don't know if any of us thought that in the commentary box. It looked like he scooped that up clean," Smith added.
The Sorensen try was one of two Panthers tries chalked off by the Bunker in the first half as the reigning premiers took an 8-0 lead into the sheds.
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Thurston doubled down post-game, continuing to express his confusion at the decision.
"He's dived on the ball, I didn't see any other movement that (would suggest) the ball has slid off his hand and travelled forward," he said. "It's like he's got control the whole time there."
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