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Cranky old coaches Des Hasler and Ricky Stuart reportedly engaged in a post-match argument outside Canberra’s dressing room following the Titans’ controversial golden-point loss on Sunday night which the NRL has since admitted was the wrong result.
The Titans were dudded again in extra time and should have had a shot at penalty goal from in front to win against Canberra with NRL head of football Graham Annesley confirming on Monday that Raiders fullback Chevy Stewart was offside when he charged down Titans captain Kieran Foran’s attempt at field goal in the 87th minute.
Hasler also took aim at referee Kasey Badger’s performance and when he confronted Stuart outside the Raiders’ sheds after the game, his opposing coach replied with “F— you, we should have got another 15 six-agains” according to a NewsCorp report.
“I’m going to go hard in there,” he reportedly added in reference to his upcoming post-match media conference where he said Hasler was “on another planet” with his views on Badger’s performance.
Stuart then fired back in his presser and accused the Titans of “cheating” by wrestling his players for extended periods while they attempted to play the ball, suggesting they could have received “another 10 or 12” set restarts.
Hasler was adamant after the game that Stewart broke the rules with his chargedown which was soon followed by Jamal Fogarty’s match-winning field goal for the home side.
“I think it was probably a good metre offside,” fuming Titans coach Des Hasler said after his team’s 21-20 loss. “Let’s hear from the hard-running Graham Annesley, so hopefully he will have a better idea about it Monday.”
Annesley confirmed in a video presentation on Monday that Stewart was not back 10m when the ball cleared the ruck.
“He, in this instance, is offside,” Annesley said. “That was an error and should have been picked up by the touch judges.”
Annesley said that, in the first instance, the Titans should have received a set restart for the infringement, but the ball ricocheted away and they knocked-on and did not receive any advantage.
“If they had picked up the offside player, waved six-again and the play breaks down … then they will say there is no advantage and give the penalty,” he said.
Hasler also queried why the Bunker did not look at the incident
“The Bunker cannot review 10m compliance,” Annesley said. “It doesn’t happen in any other aspect of play.”
Fogarty ultimately slotted a 90th minute field goal to give his side victory in Canberra.
It was a case of deja vu for the Titans
Last year Annesley conceded the Titans should have been awarded a penalty in front of the posts in the closing minutes of Parramatta’s 25-24 win in round 20.
Eels forwards Ryan Matterson and Shaun Lane were both a metre offside when the ball cleared the ruck as Titans No.7 Tanah Boyd missed a 76th minute field goal attempt.
On Sunday night both coaches were in fine form. Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said Hasler was “on another planet” after the Titans mentor also blasted the refereeing of Kasey Badger.
He said her performance was “pretty poor” after his team conceded five penalties to three, and gave away eight set restarts to the Raiders’ one.
“If he’s critical of the six-agains and the penalties, he’s on another planet,” Stuart said.
“He coached well … but the way they cheated when they were standing there with their hand on the ball … the way they cheated on the ground.
“I feel sorry for Kasey the way they were in her face all night.”
Annesley provided a list of independent statistics from the match on 10m compliance. They revealed the Titans were offside 28 times that they were not pinged for.
Hasler, who joked he’d be fined $25,000 for his rant, said “some” of the penalties were warranted.
“Some of them just leave us battling field position the whole time,” he said.
Annesley’s stats also showed that the Raiders were offside on 10 occasions that were not penalised, but overall they were onside 94 per cent of the time compared to the Titans’ 89.4 per cent.
with AAP
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