Tigers lodge official complaint after bunker shocker but NRL claims Cowboys challenge was legit

Wests Tigers chair Lee Hagipantelis is so furious over the bunker blunder which robbed his team of victory against the Cowboys that he has not ruled out legal action.

The Tigers boss spoke to ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys and NRL CEO Andrew Abdo on Sunday night in the wake of the controversial last-second call from Ashley Klein which gifted the Cowboys a penalty goal to win 27-26 in Townsville.

Hagipentalis, the principal of Brydens Lawyers, has not ruled out legal action and told the league chiefs the Tigers were “considering all options” as he voiced his objections in the strongest possible terms.

Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe announced they have demanded an explanation from the NRL.

“We believe the officials got it wrong, plain and simple,” Pascoe said. “That decision has cost us victory and we want answers.

“Our players worked their backsides off all night to celebrate Jimmy’s 300th game, and they are to be applauded for their efforts,” he added in reference to captain James Tamou’s milestone match.

“I know officials also work hard to get it right, but this in our opinion was just so wrong. I have spoken to a number of very experienced players, former players, media commentators, and our own coaching staff, and everyone agrees it was the wrong call.

“I’m not here to bash officials, I know they are doing their best, but the bunker is there to avoid ‘howlers’. We would like an explanation from the NRL, and our members and fans deserve that.”

With seconds remaining, the last-placed Tigers looked to have produced the boilover of the season when they scored twice to lead the Cowboys 26-25 in a cliffhanger at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

But with the final kick-off of the game, the Bunker ruled Kyle Feldt was impeded in the chase for the ball by Asu Kepaoa even though replays appeared to indicate the Tigers centre was looking directly at the Steeden, not his opponent when they collided.

Bunker official Ashley Klein ruled Kepaoa “ran sideways which denies” Feldt after a captain’s challenge from Chad Townsend. Feldt was laughing after the verdict was announced and Valentine Holmes stepped up to nail the pressure penalty goal to the delight of the local fans.

An NRL spokesman has issued a statement in response to the outcry over the decision to penalise Kepaoa for supposedly impeding Feldt in challenging for the ball on the final kick-off of the game.

The NRL has claimed Cowboys captain Chad Townsend was entitled to make a captain’s challenge against the decision while the Tigers argue that when Daine Laurie caught the ball and was tackled without the referee stopping play, the game was over as time had expired.

“The captain can challenge decisions by the referee to stop the play,” the spokesman said.

“Although the referee had blown his whistle to stop the game after the last tackle was completed as time had expired, he had not yet called full-time. 

“The whole concept of the captain’s challenge is to make sure any decision by the referee that stops the game can be reviewed. To not do so would effectively deny a team the right to have an officiating error corrected on the last play of a game just because time had expired.

“There are multiple examples of games continuing after time has expired following an infringement. These include incidences of foul play or other penalisable rule breaches.

“The obstruction decision itself will be reviewed as a matter of course on Monday.”

Head of football Graham Annesley is due to front the media on Monday afternoon to explain the debacle amid calls for Klein, rated the NRL’s leading referee after controlling all three Origins, to pay the priced for his contentious call.

“That is garbage,” fumed Greg Alexander in Fox League commentary as the play unfolded. “That’s a massive call. He’s had a shocker in the box today, Ashley Klein. An absolute shocker.”

The Tigers had celebrated the win on social media before quickly deleting the post.

The official NRL Twitter account’s post was inundated with hundreds of responses from fans blowing up about the pathetic decision which robbed the Tigers.

Tigers fans started a change.org petitition to have the result overturned with more than 4000 people signing up within the first 12 hours.

It was a terrible way for Tamou to end his 300th NRL game against the team where he won the 2015 Grand Final.

The Tigers went into the Townsville tussle with interim coach Brett Kimmorley stuck at home in Sydney in the midst of a seven-day isolation period after testing positive to COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Assistant coaches Nathan Cayless and Ben Gardiner took charge in his absence.

“It was a moment of elation, then a moment of deflation,” Gardiner said when asked about the dramatic finish. “I wasn’t quite sure on why the decision was made. My understanding is that when the bunker comes into play or when there’s a challenge made it has to be when there’s an indiscretion in the play or that there’s a breakdown of the play.

“My understanding is we caught the ball and the game was over and that’s where it should have ended.”

There have been calls for the result to be reversed from fans on social media but Gardiner said such talk was not going to get anywhere.

“You can get upset, you can complain and do all those sorts of things but it doesn’t change anything,” he said.

Tamou said his team had their heads down after the win was snatched from them but he told them to lift them high and he “couldn’t have asked for any more” from them.

Cowboys coach Todd Payten was unhappy with his team’s performance “but in the end we found a way to win”.

Valentine Holmes celebrates after kicking the winning penalty goal. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

He said it was “debatable” whether they deserved the win but added there were previous matches where he thought refereeing decisions had cost his team victory.

Townsend thought the full-time siren sounding constituted a stoppage in play: “I just saw the escort, went over to the ref straight away and I think the touchie was agreeing. He looked at the ref and gave the ref a nod, I think he saw the same thing as I saw. He asked me what I was challenging, I said the escort. Feldty was on the ground, I thought he [Kepaoa] changed his line.

“Over the course of the season sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t and tonight we got one.”

The Tigers’ new coaching duo were off to a rough start on debut when the visitors conceded a soft try from the Cowboys’ first attacking set in the second minute.

Jason Taumalolo barged through a gap up the middle to combine with hooker Reece Robson, who put Maroons five-eighth Tom Dearden in next to the posts.

Wests responded when winger Brent Naden, returning after four-game dangerous throw ban, sprinted onto the end of a left-side raid after 12 minutes.

Nu Brown made it a surprise 12-6 lead midway through the first half from dummy-half after the Cowboys coughed up the pill on four occasions from their first eight sets. 

Jackson Hastings and Luke Brooks combined down the left edge to produce points for a second time with the halfback floating a perfect pass for an acrobatic Kepaoa to touch down for a sweet 16-6 buffer.

The 10-point advantage was maintained seconds before half-time when Daine Laurie denied Feldt with a superb last-ditch touchline tackle.

It was easily the most polished 40-minute performance by the last-placed Tigers all season. And probably the Cowboys’ worst.

A contentious penalty against Tom Gilbert enabled the Tigers to stretch the gap to 12 but Holmes halved that in the 48th minute when he dived over from a Scott Drinkwater assist.

Murray Taulagi is tackled. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Brooks nearly swung the momentum back to the Tigers with a searching run but Naden fluffed the finish. The halfback missed a costly tackle soon after with Cowboys forward Jeremiah Nanai palming off Brooks to notch his 13th try of the season and square the ledger at 18-18 after 55 minutes.

Tigers winger Ken Maumalo was sin-binned a short time later when his shoulder charge clipped Dearden high.

Nanai was denied what would have been a club record 14th try in a season by a forward when Laurie spilt a bomb but hung onto his ankles before Brooks stripped it from him on the line.

He got over the stripe to claim the record after a careless Brooks pass ricocheted off Kelma Tuilagi into Nanai’s possession and he raced away under the posts for a 24-18 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.

Holmes gave the Cowboys breathing room with a field goal but Naden plunged over for a second to give the Tigers a final sniff.

And they took it in sensational circumstances when Hastings put Laurie through and Starford To’a streaked away to put the underdogs up by a point with five seconds remaining, but unfortunately for them, it was not enough in the end.