Sydney Roosters' head coach Trent Robinson has slammed referee Ashley Klein over a forward pass call during his team's loss to the Penrith Panthers on Friday evening in the first NRL qualifying final.
The controversial call came during the second half, with the Roosters attempting to mount a comeback after being blown out early on in the contest.
Two tries after halftime to James Tedesco and Joseph Suaalii gave the Roosters a sniff, and it appeared they had a third on the way only for Klein to call a pass on the inside to Tedesco as forward.
Robinson said Klein was the only person in the ground who thought it was forward.
"No, I didn't think it was forward. I don't think anybody thought it was forward except for the ref. Even looking at the replays and the angle of the pass, that's a big call in that moment, and you can't get that wrong," Robinson said when quizzed directly on the try during his post-match press conference.
It was a view shared by Tedesco, who expressed his frustration at the potentially game-altering decision.
"I didn't think it was forward. We probably would have scored off the back of it and it would have been a different contest, but I didn't agree that it was forward," Tedesco said.
Tedesco was also aggreived on field during the second half over a missed penalty, when Penrith winger Sunia Turuva appeared to trip the captain.
Robinson, in summing up the defeat to Penrith, said his side made errors early and then let themselves down in physicality, but did praise his bench players for turning the tide.
"Obviously, the first 20 minutes, I think we had probably one or two six-agains, three errors in that period of time which gave them field position, and then they just executed really well. Two shift tries, a last play try off the post, and I think the field position we gave them there, they earnt," Robinson said.
"Then it was physicality. Our contacts were poor and theirs were good. Our bench guys came on and shifted that towards the back-end of the first half, then they set the tone for the second half as well."
The Roosters will now have a 48-hour recovery advantage over their semi-final opponent owing to some odd NRL scheduling, with the tri-colours to meet either the Canterbury Bulldogs or Manly Sea Eagles next Saturday evening at Allianz Stadium.
