“After the trials we will discuss the results with the Commission and seek further direction on next steps.
“While I’m not sure of the outcome at this stage, the potential to finally crack one of the great frustrations of our game is very exciting.”
The Australian Rugby League Commission has proven to be agile in making immediate changes if they are viewed as being beneficial to the game, raising hopes that a suitable solution could potentially be implemented during the upcoming season.
Former premiership-winning and Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens, who recently returned to the Wests Tigers in a newly created role, introduced the Sportable technology to NRL officials.
“It’s a bit like a ball hitting a line in tennis or a football crossing the line for the goal, you need technology,” Sheens said.
“If it works, I think it would be great. As long as the decision is made quickly, everyone will be happy enough.
“The touchie gets it wrong often [and calls ‘forward’] because the ball is thrown and lands in front of the guy who threw it [even though it left the hands backwards].
“Hopefully they come up with a system that works. We can’t be living in the ’50s or ‘60s or ’70s. We’re in the 2020s and technology is part of our life.”
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The NRL won’t indicate which trial games will be used to road test the forward-pass systems, instead using them as background tests that won’t have any effect on the matches.
Sportable was formed by former NASA nuclear engineer Pete Husemeyer, as well as Dugald Macdonald and Dan Davson.
“It’s cheaper than other technologies in the market, it’s less expensive for the league than GPS technology they currently use,” Husemeyer told the Herald last year.
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“The other key point is what we’re creating is a sponsorable asset; when you think about Hawkeye, in many cases that would be cost-neutral to the league because it’s being covered by a sponsor.”
Hawk-eye technology revolutionised the way cricket and tennis are officiated and league powerbrokers are hoping for similar success in the 13-man code.
