Manly coach Des Hasler has unloaded on the referees after the Sea Eagles went down to the Eels 22-20 on Friday night.
Despite leading by 10 points late in the second half, Manly fell short when Mitch Moses slotted through the game-winning conversion from the sideline in the shadows of full-time.
Life for Hasler’s men was made particularly tough late when star fullback Tom Trbojevic came from the field with a shoulder injury, while a sin bin to Sean Keppie for a dangerous tackle in the 72nd minute while clinging to a four-point lead also didn’t help.
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Following his side’s last-gasp loss, Hasler called out several incidents from the match that he claimed led to his side’s loss.
He was particularly frustrated with the decision to penalise Christian Tuipulotu for a high tackle, which handed the Eels a fresh set of tackles late in the game just as Manly players celebrated thinking they had turned possession over.
“Yeah it wasn’t high, it was a good tackle. It’s a brave tackle, it’s called a try-saver,” Haser told reporters in his post-match press conference.
“The idea of a game is defence … and to come up with big plays.
“It sort of just adds to the disappointment of the result, on the back of a 9-2 penalty count. They (the Eels) got led back into the game, I thought.
“A couple of stupid penalties we gave away.”
While Moses hit the match-winner to burn the Eels late, that effort was on the back of a try to Will Penisini in the corner.
Penisini’s try followed some controversy in the lead-up when questions were raised over whether Junior Paulo produced a forward pass that found its way to Morgan Harper, who was unable to hang on to the ball before referee Ben Cummins went with the ruling of a knock-on.
“That ball goes forward … I thought it went forward from Junior,” said league legend Andrew Johns on Nine’s NRL coverage.
While Hasler didn’t mention which forward pass moment he was referring to, he suggested one was missed.
In claiming that a forward pass was missed, Hasler referenced the Sea Eagles’ controversial 2020 loss to the Eels, which saw Manly denied a match-winning try when a forward pass in the lead-up was ruled.
“I thought very dubious calls,” Hasler added.
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“A forward pass, it was the same call as a couple of years – didn’t miss that forward pass.
“The Gutherson kick-chase was probably at least a metre off-side.
“So, I’m sure Ben (Cummins) will review his game.”