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The A-League's VAR system can only get better according to Brisbane striker Adam Taggart, who says the video official is killing the momentum of matches. Taggart had a strike ruled out for offside by the system during the Roar's 1-1 draw with Central Coast on Sunday in one of several contentious calls on the competition's opening weekend. VAR was always likely to be in the spotlight after the "system failed" in last season's Grand Final when the only goal of the match by Melbourne Victory's Kosta Barbarouses against Newcastle was allowed despite an offside in the build-up. The opening match of the season between Melbourne City and the Victory on Friday featured a dubious penalty awarded to City following VAR intervention in the Sky Blues' 2-1 win over their city rivals. Taggart believed the time it took to rule out his strike against the Mariners for offside not only sucked the momentum the Roar were building at the time but didn't meet the criteria of a "clear and obvious" error by the on-field officials. "Obviously the time it took for them to decide you can normally tell more than anything. If it's clear and obvious you can sort of make a decision in five seconds surely?" Taggart asked reporters on Tuesday. "It probably does take the sting out of the game and the excitement and things like that. Definitely the momentum. Teams start building momentum and then you might have to wait a few minutes for a decision to be made." A-League head Greg O'Rourke defended the system on Monday saying "it's not going anywhere" and argued there was a need to find funding for more full-time referees to consistently get calls correct. Taggart said from a player's perspective, he's just hopeful the system improves as the season goes on. "It's something that's there, there's always going to be a lot of drama around it," Taggart said. "I'm hoping they'll get better each week ... I'm hoping the VAR will keep getting better for us as players."
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