Coach Nathan Brown has refused to point his finger at the match officials, after NZ Warriors were on the wrong end of a string of contentious calls in their hard-fought 22-14 loss to Sydney Roosters on Sunday.
Several key decisions went against the Warriors - particularly in the second half of the contest - leaving the commentary team, fans and players alike frustrated and scratching their heads.
Perhaps the most egregious and impactful of those was the decision not to award Jesse Arthars what seemed a legitimate try, after the bunker mistook the ball being propelled by Roosters forward Fletcher Baker as a knock-on.
The try would've seen them regain the lead in a match where points were at a premium. Instead, the Roosters crossed just a few minutes later to hit the front for the first time - an advantage they never relinquished.
But Brown was willing to concede the Roosters benefited from having the momentum on their side, downplaying the effect of the referees.
"We could have poked our nose in front and who knows what would have happened? I don’t really know," Brown said.
"That decision was one of those 50/50 ones. If we got it, I would have said great, it was one of those ones where I thought that when you’re the aggressor like they were, you tend to get things.
"They probably deserved it from that point of view. There were a few things that went their way when they were the aggressor. When you're on the front foot, you probably should get the 50/50 calls.
"Certainly, the referee isn't the reason why we're sitting here on the losing side, we've got some things to worry about ourselves."
Among other notable refereeing moments were James Tedesco escaping a stint in the sinbin for what seemed a clear professional foul after a Warriors break, while the bunker ruled Addin Fonua-Blake had knocked on playing the ball on a captain's challenge, when there seemed to be a clear hand in the mix from a Roosters marker. Sam Walker knocked over a penalty moments later to increase Sydney's lead.
The Warriors' defence was a clear highlight of their performance at the Sydney Cricket Ground but the weight of territory and possession took its toll in the second stanza.
"We didn't start the second half so well and probably the biggest thing was that their line speed was pretty consistent and we just didn’t play enough football,” Brown said.
"Apart from the odd occasion, I thought we defended our goal line pretty well, they have some good players, but if you keep defending your goal line against them blokes, the kicks become dangerous, because their targets are pretty special."
In turn, the Warriors struggled to put any try-line pressure on their opponents, as they struggled to win consistent field position against the suffocating Roosters' defence.
"We just didn't play enough footy," Brown insisted.
"Credit to them, their line speed was very good and we didn’t adapt to it well at all. We didn't adjust and we need to get some good lessons out of it, because their line speed was consistent.
"We played a fair bit of one out football and that’s not going to beat sides like the Roosters."
The result snaps the Warriors' three-game winning streak, and drops them back outside of the all-important top-eight and into ninth position on the ladder.
They'll face the ever-daunting task of taking on the Storm in Melbourne in their annual Anzac clash on Monday.
