Gold Coast coach Jim Lenihan is fuming after the NRL admitted the Titans should have been awarded a penalty in front of the posts in the closing minutes of Parramatta’s 25-24 win over his side on Sunday night.
NRL head of football Graham Annesley conceded at his weekly football briefing on Monday that Eels forwards Ryan Matterson and Shaun Lane were both one metre offside when the ball cleared the ruck before Titans No.7 Tanah Boyd missed a 76th minute field goal attempt at CommBank Stadium.
“They are at least one metre over the goal line as the ball clears the ruck which places them offside,” Annesley said.
“There is no doubt that the touch judge on the near side should have called those players offside. When the ball was charged down by Lane the referee (Chris Butler) should have penalised him on the advice of the touch judge, but that advice didn’t come.”
Gold Coast would have taken a 26-25 lead with a successful penalty goal attempt.
The Titans lost 23-21 in golden point to the Dolphins the previous week when forward Erin Clark was penalised for the same offside infringement as Matterson and Lane’s. The Dolphins landed the penalty from in front and won the game.
(Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
Lenihan said “it is certainly disappointing that we just can’t seem to get a call our way at the moment”.
“It is hard to swallow, really hard to swallow,” Lenihan told AAP.
“What can I do about it? They are certainly not going to give me two competition points which is what we are playing 80 minutes of football for.
“I am certainly not happy about this. We are working hard to be a club that won’t be bullied on the field or off the field.”
Lenihan said Eels prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard should also have been penalised a minute later when Boyd missed a second field goal from right in front.
“Campbell-Gillard was not square at marker and was told so by the referee on the mic,” Lenihan fumed.
“He still doesn’t blow a penalty, one minute after Eels players on the tryline leave early.
“They can’t find a penalty twice for us in the last four minutes but find one against us in golden point the week before.”
Annesley also reviewed the Campbell-Gillard incident and said it was “a little more subjective” after Butler called him offside. Campbell-Gillard ran five metres before aborting any attempt at charge down.
“If the player responds to the call more often than not the referee won’t take action,” Annesley said.
Lenihan did not agree there was anything subjective about it.
“It is not subjective when he is told he is not square and is offside. When he moves inside a 10 metre radius of the player (Boyd) the whistle has to be blown for a penalty,” he said.
“The same thing happened to us when (Titans winger) Phil Sami had one foot in front of the kicker but by the time the kick lands he is within a 10 metres and they blow a penalty against him.”
The Titans are four points outside the top eight and a win against the Eels would have been crucial to their finals hopes.
Lenihan said he had sent NRL referees boss Jared Maxwell an email on Monday morning and wanted to speak to him about Sunday night’s incidents and other recent calls that have gone against the Titans.
Tigers players block out club’s civil war
Wests Tigers forward John Bateman is adamant the club’s latest civil war won’t hinder their bid to avoid successive wooden spoons.
The Tigers’ status as the NRL’s most in-turmoil club took a new turn over the weekend when reports emerged of a feud between assistant coach Benji Marshall and recruitment boss Scott Fulton.
Marshall is being groomed to replace Tim Sheens as the club’s head coach in 2025 but it appears he and Fulton, who was parachuted in from Manly earlier this year, are already at loggerheads.
The Tigers are on the hunt for a new halfback after Luke Brooks agreed a deal with the Sea Eagles for next season, with Fulton and Marshall’s apparent inability to agree on a replacement threatening to boil over.
Aiden Sezer, Brodie Croft and Jack Cogger have all been tossed up as potential solutions to the club’s playmaking dilemma.
Aidan Sezer. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)
Fulton and Marshall were set to meet on Monday, but neither they nor Sheens – who doubles as the club’s head of football – spoke to the media.
Bateman stepped up to face the music in their absence and revealed the squad had got together and agreed they could not allow the off-field drama to consume them.
“That’s not my job. My job is on the field and we’re not doing our job,” Bateman said.
“The boys are pretty blase, you’ve got to be in this game. You can’t let stuff get to you.
“It’s not our job … I don’t get paid to do that, if I did I’d be sat behind a desk.
“We’ve got more to focus on than what they have, to be fair.”
The off-field distraction will do nothing to lift the pressure for the Tigers, who face their most important game of the season on Thursday when they travel to meet second-from-bottom St George Illawarra.
The match looms as pivotal in the shoot-out for the wooden spoon as the Tigers stare at back-to-back last-placed finishes.
“It’s pretty s**t, losing,” said Bateman, who styles himself as one of the NRL’s toughest competitors.
“I came here to win and you go through the dressing room and everybody else wants to win.
“I don’t care how we win, I just want to win.”
While the club bicker over their next No.7, one man whose place at the Tigers is no longer up in the air is forward Shawn Blore.
Blore, who previously captained the NSW State of Origin under-18s, was linked with a move to the Super League earlier this year but the 22-year-old has been told he is seen as part of the future at Wests Tigers.
“As soon as I saw (the rumours of a move) I went and had a conversation with Sheensy and Benji,” Blore said.
“They reassured me my place was at the Tigers. That’s all I needed to hear.”
Roosters look to refreshed Tedesco to save season
With James Tedesco refreshed and recharged, Daniel Tupou is backing the Sydney Roosters skipper to be the catalyst for a late charge into the NRL’s top eight.
The Roosters suffered their 10th defeat of the season on Saturday when they lost 30-16 to Melbourne, leaving them 14th on the ladder – four points off the top eight.
Tedesco was given a week off by coach Trent Robinson after an arduous 18 months for the fullback, who has played 50 games for club, state and country in that time.
“I’m sure we’ll get a fresh Teddy,” winger Tupou said.
“Having a week off, which he definitely needed with his commitments and his schedule (will be a boost).
“We’re pretty stoked that he gets to get away and refresh the body and the mind. We’ll get him back and ready for this weekend for sure.”
(Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
Tedesco has attracted some criticism for his form, as well as for holidaying in Byron Bay while his team was fighting to save their season.
But forward Nat Butcher said the Chooks No.1 had earned a refresh.
“We all got a week off (with the round-19 bye) and the way Origin is, Teddy didn’t get that time off,” Butcher said.
“That rest was probably deserved. We know Teddy is going to be primed and ready to go for the back end of the season.”
The Roosters have a tough run to round out their campaign, beginning with a trip to take on Gold Coast on Saturday followed by games against Brisbane, Manly, Parramatta and Souths.
Robinson conceded after the Storm loss that his side were facing an uphill battle with just seven games left.
Only Wests Tigers have a worse attack than the Roosters, but Tupou is adamant they can rewrite the script and finish the year with a bang. “We’ve just got to make plays and finish those moments,” Tupou said. “We still have belief in ourselves.”
andrew
Roar Rookie
At least the Sharks won't be fighting to avoid the spoon.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
They make the finals it’d be under false pretenses.
andrew
Roar Rookie
You want to hope souvalis that your Sharks aren't on the receiving end of a referee's blunder that may cost them a game in the finals or even Grand Final.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
The purpose of the weekly briefing is to specifically address the major 'talking points' of the round (ie ref decisions) that the media have blown up over . I watch it every week for the deeper delve into what the telecast doesn't show (mikes and camera angles) in official decision making onfield. Over riding majority of times the evidence will show the refs either made the right call or it was a 50-50 call. There are times (hardly 'always') where they get it wrong and as the buck stops there with him, he steps up and takes his kick in the teeth. Commentators are getting right out of hand of late making ignorant of the rules accusations of referee incompetence and bias, especially the irresponsible Fox media, and the bobble heads will inevitably be swayed by this. Dunno how any interested, keen fan can have an informed opinion on these weekly controversies without gathering all the evidence from this direct source before making your own mind up.
andrew
Roar Rookie
Annersley's on replay every week, always apologising for refereeing mistakes.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
What do you want Annesley to do ? He made no excuses, the touch judge didn’t call it and he singled him out for it. Playing 11 men for a significant period for just one long distance try and letting Carty thru 4 defenders from dummy half, Titans robbed themselves.
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
Send offs are fine as lkong as they are consistent with both side (they ref on Sunday wasnt).
Censored Often
Roar Rookie
Refs missed plenty of offsides in the Eels v Titans game. I assume it's too difficult to catch everyone so they only get the ones they actually see. Both sides were doing it, for Annesley to focus on one incident is a little odd.
Andrew01
Roar Rookie
Titans can blow up about the Eels being offside when Boyd tries to kick the field goal - especially after being pinged last week. BUT. They lose the moral high ground if anyone bothers to look at whether they were offside when Moses kicked his field goal a few minutes earlier which would have made it two points not one and then the Titans wouldn't have been chasing a field goal, they would have been chasing a try.
andrew
Roar Rookie
What were those dozey touch judges doing, probably frightened of the crowd. Titans were robbed. Once again we have to put up with Annersley's excuses, nothing changes while he's still in charge.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
The battle between the Tigers and Manly is a bit like the one between Manly and the Eels a while back.. Manly pinched a few Eels players like T-Rex and the Wolf which helped them win a couple of titles. The Eels fought back by grabbing a busted Watmough and then a soon to be busted Foran and a few others. Manly were clear winners in the battle but with Gutherson and Lane doing well , the Eels have fought back. Manly have hooked onto any number of Tigers players in recent years and the Tigers have fought back but just like the Eels , they may well be doing more harm than good. Time will tell.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
I've never been a harsh critic of Annesley and his Monday rundown. He could just put his head in the sand like they did in the past and defend their position that players decide games. Well, except when they don't. In saying that, Annesley missed the point last week because he didn't address the real issue. The inconsistency is usually watered down because if this loss to the Titans was months or a year down the track , hardly anyone is interested when you mention it. ''Get over it sunshine" This has been an issue for a long time and they either have to turn a blind eye to field goal issues every time, or get the bunker to have a look every time. It would take 10 seconds to make a ruling and play can go on unless it's a penalty. It's probably the most important decision you will get in any game because it will typically determine the winner. It's too crucial to leave it in the hands of refs and touchies who are asleep at the wheel most of the time on the issue.
DP Schaefer
Roar Rookie
We are working hard to be a club that won’t be bullied on the field or off the field. Seems Titans have finally woken up to that as well...
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
It's a good idea in principle, but it wouldn't work in practice. The main problem is the dummy half baulking the defense (and the referee) by pretending to touch the ball but not doing so. And it would be close to impossible for defenders on the opposite side of the field to see the initial moment of contact and move up accordingly. Then you get into issues of the line not being able to move until contact is made when a play the ball is centimeters away from the tryline, plus a potential rule change whether or not the markers can play for the ball if a dummy half is either not present or not ready.
Haradasun
Roar Rookie
How about play starts once dummy half puts hands on the ball? Might be easier to referee? And gives teams a bit more time?
Pedro
Roar Rookie
Titans have taken over the Warriors mantle of most dudded team in the comp. Rather than punting the coach Titans would have been better letting him spray the refs a few weeks running. That would have been cheaper and done more for their results than a new coach.
Ian_
Roar Rookie
I think the bigger issue in the Titans game is that they should have only been facing 12, even 11 Eels players for the last part of the game. One clear send off (RCG) was squibbed by the officials, and Sivo's was arguably send off material too.
Dutski
Roar Guru
Titans are well within rights to blow up about that - week to week the lack of consistency is stark and to have the same thing they got pinged for last week be the exact thing that gets let go against them must really burn.
MB088
Roar Rookie
Lol wont hinder their chances to avoid consecutive spoons. The only thing that will hinder that is actually playing like a team of professional athletes who are paid as such