Former NZ Warriors coach Stephen Kearney was reportedly betrayed by a blown referee's call that cost his team a try in their 40-12 defeat to South Sydney last Friday.
That result proved the last straw for club management, which hours later showed Kearney the door, appointing assistant Todd Payten as interim coach until the end of the season.
Payten has told Newstalk ZB that NRL officials contacted Kearney after the game, admitting a blunder had cost Warriors winger David Fusitu'a a certain try at a pivotal point in the contest.
With Souths leading 18-6 late in the first half, Fusitu'a had an open run to the line, when he was felled by a head-high tackle from Souths fullback Latrell Mitchell, losing the ball in the process.
Despite video reviews, match officials completely missed the incident and Fusitu'a left the game, after failing his head injury assessment.
"Steve got a call from the referees' boss," Payten says. "It should have been a penalty try - they missed it.
"It doesn't help us one little bit now. It's disappointing they continue to miss stuff like that in our games against us.
"That play potentially had a big bearing on the game and possibly Steve's future - it's a really difficult one to swallow."
Admittedly, that one play alone did not cost the Warriors the game - they also missed 43 tackles during the encounter.
And that one result did not cost Kearney his job - he left with a 32-win/46-loss/one-draw record over four seasons in charge and his four losses from six outings this season were by an average of 22 points.
But it was symptomatic of the challenges faced during a campaign disrupted by coronavirus shutdown, with the team permanently based at the New South Wales coastal city of Gosford and facing a mounting injury toll with no reinforcements in sight.
Payten must now rally his shellshocked players for a showdown with archrivals Melbourne Storm on Friday night.
Join us at 8pm Friday for live updates of the Warriors v Storm NRL clash
