It's a weird rule though; I mean everyone realised what the ref was saying once he spoke to Tedesco (even at the game we could see on the big screen, but we couldn't hear what they were saying).
But why does the clock stop only after a conversion at the tail-end of a match, but the clock does not stop if the kick is declined? The ref clearly stopped the clock after the try as well.
This was the rule change from 2014, but I can't find any other text about stoppages:
"During the last five minutes of a match, the clock will stop following a conversion or penalty kick at goal until play restarts at halfway. The interpretation change will add excitement during close matches, provide consistency across matches and reduce potential time-wasting."
The kick took exactly 11 seconds - the clock was stopped at 0:16 whilst Tedesco deliberated, then stopped again at 0:05 once Smith completed the conversion.
Therefore if Tedesco declined the kick the clock would have gone back on whilst the Tigers trudged back to half-way? We definitely could have ironed out 16 seconds; the ref may still have stopped the clock (discretionary) if we didn't get the kickoff done, and there still may have been that same single tackle available to Roosters.
But overall the rule seems weird that the clock stops for any score within 5 minutes, but if you decline a kick after a score the clock goes back on.
