Cleary, Bellamy left to question refereeing decisions after controversial tries

Both Ivan Cleary and Craig Bellamy have been left to question refereeing decisions during the Penrith Panthers' 34 points to 16 victory over the Melbourne Storm at Marvel Stadium on Friday evening.

In what was the first of two games the Storm will play away from AAMI Park due to the FIFA Women's World Cup, the Panthers would run away with the game, putting on 34 points after originally trailing 14-0 after 26 minutes.

It was a game that left fans questioning decisions though, with Nelson Asofa-Solomona awarded a controversial try in the 24th minute despite appearing to drop the ball before Stephen Crichton was awarded a penalty try to get Penrith off zero just seven minutes later.

Asofa-Solomona's try, which was reviewed by the bunker for both grounding and double movement, appeared to show separation with the football, however, they returned the green lights.

Ivan Cleary was left almost speechless in attempting to describe the try during his post-game press conference.

The coach said the game needed to clarify what grounding should look like, but admitted his side had asked for the try to be scored with missed tackles.

"I don't know," a baffled Cleary said.

"You have to be careful what you wish for because over the last few years, I feel like we find knock-ons all over the field that no one else can see.

"They have been really pedantic about some of those tries really, but that one in particular was like...

"You know what, we missed tackles all over the field before that so we deserved that."

Crichton's penalty try saw him appearing to lead the race for a loose ball in the in-goal before being pulled back by Nick Meaney.

He ultimately attempted to ground the ball with a single hand, with the bunker confirming they believed he would have been able to ground the ball with both hands and score the try if not for the work of Meaney.

Bellamy said it was 50-50, but refused to outright claim the try shouldn't have been awarded.

"It was a 50-50 type thing," Bellamy said.

"It wasn't an all-out tackle, but you know, at the end of the day, that's not my decision. It's someone else's decision, they've made it, that's reality, so it doesn't matter what I think."

The Panthers sit on top of the table with 11 wins from 16 games on the back of the win, while the Storm are just two points back in fourth place.