Kiwis captain Dallin Watene-Zelezniak refused to point his finger at the referee after his side's closely fought loss to England on Sunday morning.
The Kiwis were unable to back up their impressive showing against Australia with a win in Hull, edged 18-16 in an encounter which wasn't short of contentious decisions.
The most costly of those was the penalty try awarded right on the cusp of halftime after Watene-Zelezniak was adjudged to have lead with his knees in an attempt to save a try.
"I was just trying to get in there and save a try," said Watene-Zeleniak. "He told me my hands didn't touch him before my knees did.
"Rules are rules and we have to abide by them, and it cost us a penalty try.
But the Kiwis fullback said it was a reflection of their own failure to take advantage of the chances they were given.
"As soon as you start leaving things in the referee's hands that's when you know you're going wrong. We shouldn't have let the opportunities we had go.
"We weren't on our best tonight. We shot ourselves in the foot a few times and we paid the price.
"Giving away penalties, dropped balls – it was the total opposite to what we did two weeks ago."
Coach Michael Maguire wasn't shy in letting the team know where they fell short in what was, by all reports, a no-hold-barred post-match speech to his side.
"I don't want to give away too much, but he was very stern with us and he was very direct.
"We know what we've got to do leading into this week and it starts tomorrow. We reset and get ready for next weekend."
It's time for the Kiwis to let go of the crutch of inexperience and deliver on a more consistent basis, said Watene-Zelezniak.
"We keep saying were young and inexperience and that kind of things, but we can't use that as an excuse.
We're all pro athletes, we all play in the NRL, so there's no excuses for that anymore. We've just got to get better and turn up next week."
Newshub.
