Both the Newcastle and the Cronulla coach agreed referee Gerard Sutton erred in Sunday’s wild double penalty end to the Shire game.
The Sharks had fought back to be level 18-18 with the Knights as the clock wound down, and it was the latter who looked like they had won the game with a Kalyn Ponga field goal.
But as Ponga’s kicked sailed through the upright, Sutton blew his whistle and claimed two Newcastle players had run a block play in an attempt to stop Cronulla’s defenders reaching the kicker.
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That was despite Sharks fullback Will Kennedy making a clean run to Ponga and just falling short of charging down the kick.
The Sharks marched upfield and in the ensuing set Daniel Atkinson kicked a field goal, but again Sutton blew his whistle for the exact same penalty.
Atkinson ended up nailing another in extra time to win the game, but Newcastle was robbed of a win and coach Adam O’Brien was seething.
“No,” he said when asked if Ponga’s field goal should have been disallowed.
“And I thought theirs was a field goal as well.
”(The NRL) come out over the summer and said as long as the person is in an onside position to receive the ball – so in our case it was Mat Croker.
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“If our nine doesn’t pass to the field goal kicker, if he passes to Crokes, it’s not a forward pass, he’s onside… but Graham (Annesley) will find a way to dress it up.”
NRL’s head of football Annesley will address the decisions at Monday’s regular press conference.
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon agreed both field goals should have been awarded, even though it would have resulted in his side losing the game.
“I probably agree, I didn’t think there was an obstruction line for any of (the players),” Fitzgibbon said.
“I thought the guys had clear lanes – but if you start opening that up as well guys are just going to run into them and milk it.
“I don’t have a solution… but I didn’t think either were (a penalty), but that’s the rule.”
It wasn’t the only decision that had O’Brien fuming as Newcastle’s finals hopes all but ended with the narrow loss.
Utility playmaker Phoenix Crossland was sin-binned by Sutton on half-time for holding down a play-the-ball.
The call didn’t harm the Knights given Cronulla failed to score off the penalty kick or in the ensuing 10 minutes, but the coach was nonetheless filthy.
“(I’d be) shocked if anybody agreed,” O’Brien said.
“That was the first infringement of the half… and on the third one he puts a bloke in the bin. Is that a harsh standard?
“I haven’t seen that all year, and I was shocked.
“This team is fighting to stay in the competition and then you get that done to you – like fair dinkum.
“I’ve seen teams give away multiple (penalties) on their tryline and then usually someone gets warned… he went there on the third penalty, fair dinkum, it’s ridiculous.”
The Knights are now essentially relying on other results, and have to win their remaining games to be a hope of playing finals.
