The Australian A-League grand final was won by the Melbourne Victory, whose solitary goal was enough to give them a 1-0 victory over the Newcastle Jets to see them crowned champions.

That wasn’t the end of the story, though.

The winning goal, scored by Kosta Barbarouses in just the ninth minute of the match, came from a headed assist from what turned out to be an offside position. But instead of being ruled out by the VAR system in place for the game, the connection to the feed was lost and the technology was unable to be used.

It’s a shame that the technology was unable to be consulted, especially in a final with silverware up for grabs. It’s also a shame that it wasn’t just any old factor in the match but was actually the goal which eventually decided the game, despite the fact that the Newcastle Jets did have 81 minutes plus stoppage time to respond to the adversity.

And whilst this is the sort of technical issue which should be envisaged with VAR (momentary loss of internet connection is something everyone is all too familiar with), it’s also a situation which can tell us something about the implementation of the system in the future.

Since the first trials of VAR, it has garnered a lot of negative headlines but perhaps this shows that we actually do require it. Despite the furore when it goes wrong, or when it takes too long to make a decision, it’s clear that there’s just as many complaints when it’s not there to make the right decision in the first place.

Recently, the Premier League clubs voted to postpone the introduction of VAR, and it won’t be in place next season. But perhaps this is proof that it isn’t something to wish away, but rather something to improve on, because clearly we miss it when it’s gone.