St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor faces the possibility of a hefty fine from the NRL for his withering spray at the referees following his side’s loss to lowly Newcastle.
The NRL can expect angry calls from both McGregor and South Sydney coach Michael Maguire following a fiery Saturday night.
Dragons winger Jason Nightingale backed his coach, saying the whistleblowers got it wrong after he was ruled to have knocked on in the lead-up to a controversial no-try call against Tim Lafai.
In the most explosive press conference of the season, McGregor described head referee Gavin Badger and senior bunker official Ashley Klein as “embarrassing and incompetent” after his side’s upset loss to the last-placed Knights.
He was livid at three key decisions which went against his side but stopped short of saying it cost them the game.
The Dragons were denied two first-half tries, the first coming after Nightingale was ruled to have knocked on while contesting a high ball before Lafai crossed.
The on-field referees ruled no try but sent it upstairs and the bunker officials couldn’t find sufficient evidence to overturn it.
Nene Macdonald ran 95 metres to cross but had the four-pointer taken off him after the video referees found Tyson Frizell was ruled to have taken out Trent Hodkinson at the other end.
Asked if they got it wrong, McGregor said: “Definitely – I think that anyone who knows rugby league would agree because the ball went back on the Nightingale one and it should have been overruled and it wasn’t and Hodkinson took a dive.”
Asked if the decisions were especially disappointing, given the bunker had time to deliberate on them, he said: “It is. When you spend millions of dollars, it is.”
Nightingale said the whistleblowers got it wrong in ruling he had bobbled the ball in the lead up to the Lafai incident.
“I think everyone saw the ball went backwards, it was clear,” Nightingale told AAP.
“If he had have sent it up as a try, it would have been a try. They’ve got to find enough evidence to overturn it.
“The fact it was sent up as a no try didn’t help our cause.”
Maguire also said he would make contact with the NRL following his side’s 32-18 loss to Canberra.
The Raiders scored twice while Angus Crichton was sin-binned for a professional foul, as he scrambled in cover defence while Adam Reynolds lay injured on the ground with a possible concussion.
“I’d like to ask why the game wasn’t stopped when our halfback went down,” Maguire said.
“We had someone sent off because that happened, and we had 12 points put against us through that moment in time.”
The Barry
Roar Guru
Refs fault alive and well. Nightingale didn't knock on...that was a rough call but Frizell grabbed hold of Hodkinsons collar and pulled him back a couple of times. Yes, Hodkinson went down easily but it was a daft, unnecessary play from Frizell and he got what he deserved. The refs couldn't possibly allow the try. So basically it comes down to one incorrect decision. You lose to a team that had won only three games in the past two years and apparently it all comes down to one poor referees decision. Refs fault is an absolute cancer in rugby league.
kk
Roar Pro
For the first time in a long time, the whistle was kind to the Knights. My old mate SGI John saw it coming and refused to bet. Genius!
Paul
Guest
The refs were poor. Widdop was shocking....... again.
DCM
Guest
It has been open season on South Sydney players' heads all season and the Bamfords have done little to punish it. Reynolds should have been given a penalty, instead play was allowed to continue and resulted in a sin-binning that changed the course of the whole game.