‘I try not to laugh’: Dragons ‘confused’ by call which ‘changed game’, say they ‘deserved’ to win
In his team’s 26-20 loss against the Eels, Dragons interim coach Ryan Carr has criticized the umpires for their debatable decision to disallow playmaker Junior Amone of St. George from scoring a try in the second half.
The Bunker determined that Dragons hooker Jacob Liddle dropped the ball after Amone picked up a stray ball and crossed to score beneath the posts. If granted, the Dragons would have held a 26-10 advantage.
Despite the fact that Eels fullback Clint Gutherson had his hand on the ball as he tackled Liddle, the Bunker determined that the Dragons hooker had just carried the ball loosely rather than stripping it from Gutherson.
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The decision resulted in a momentum shift towards the Eels, who were trailing 20-10 at the time and then scored the next three tries to win the game.
Carr wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry, challenging the officials be held accountable and face “questions” from the media.
“Sorry I’m trying not to laugh. I don’t want to blow up and start a controversy because I’m sick of talking about but maybe they (referees) have to come down and answer you guys,” Carr said.
“I have to do a press conference and you ask me but I don’t know the answer so maybe they should answer the questions for you so everyone in the whole world can understand why that wasn’t a try.
“You google strip and it’s hand on the ball, strips on the ball and it’s play on. It’s a try every day of the week.
“It’s a much different game (if it’s a try). They are a good team Parramatta and they were never going to go away but we deserved to score that try.
“It was good footy, we made a good line break and we deserved to score that try. The players are in the (dressing room) saying sorry to me but they don’t have to be sorry about anything.”
Eels coach Brad Arthur disagreed, believing Gutherson was just trying to make a tackle