NZ Warriors coach Andrew Webster has condemned a referee blunder that cost them a try, but refuses to blame the obvious oversight for ending his team's NRL season in the preliminary final against Brisbane Broncos.
Trailling 24-12 midway through the second half, the Warriors defence was split by Broncos fullback Reece Walsh, who floated a pass forward to winger Selwyn Cobbo, who then found second-rower Jordan Riki with another marginal pass for a try that put Brisbane three converted tries clear.
The pass was completely missed by referee Gerard Sutton and created a social media storm on both sides of the Tasman, but Webster would not point his finger at the oversight as the reason his team were beaten.
"The forward pass was so wrong it wasn't funny, but at the end of the day, they made a linebreak, we allowed the linebreak and the forward pass comes off the back of that," he said.
"We weren't defending well during that period. The forward pass was wrong, but we're not crying over that and it didn't cost us the game."
That call wasn't the only one that set the Warriors back in their quest for a third Grand Final visit. Centre Adam Pompey was sin-binned for a professional foul on opposite Katoni Staggs in the 58th minute, but - ironically - Staggs escaped a similar fate for an early tackle on Pompey in the first half.
"It's hard, it's really hard," admitted Webster. "The thing for me on referees and decisions this year... we've got to give ourselves an opportunity to win and take the referees out of it.
"Those things are hard. The boys are trying that hard and get frustrated by those decisions, but at the end of the day, we've got to take some ownership of the way we could have done things better.
"I'm going to say solid with that. All year, that's been our motto."
Pushed over the need for more foolproof technology to assist officials, Webster is adamant he won't buy into the debate.
"I appreciate where you're coming from, but I don't want to talk about that right now," he said.
In his first year as a head coach, Webster is visibly disappointed with the result, but "super proud" of his team, which bounced back from their worst-ever season in 2022 to surpass most expectations and claim a top-four spot into the NRL playoffs.
"They tried hard all year, improved out of sight... they were super ambitious and wanted to get better. They wanted to be here on this stage, but didn't get it right today - it was pretty clear.
"We got beaten by a really good side and, defensively, we didn't gve ourselves a chance. When you've got a team running red hot and a team not defending the way they want to, it makes it hard and they were very good."
Webster and captain Tohu Harris are particularly disappointed to let their fans down, after a tidal wave of support throughout a season that saw the team return home from a three-year COVID-19 exile across the Tasman.
"We've said it all year long, we've loved it," said Harris. "Our support, whether it's been in Australia or New Zealand, has been unreal.
"It's gone to a whole new level and it's something a lot of the guys, whether it's the start of their career or they've been in the league a long time, it's something they've never experienced before."
After the game, veteran half Shaun Johnson addressed his teammates, ensuring they use the disappointment as the start of another Grand Final bid next season.
"What Webby and the coaches have brought into the club, that can set us up, but the players will have to use this to drive us to get better," said Harris. "If you look at the result, we weren't good enough this year and tonight, but we've got it in us to improve and take those steps forward.
"There's a lot of work ahead of us. The structure and the stuff is there to get to the level we want to go to, but we've got to put in the work."
