Refereeing inconsistency will again be a talking point after the Melbourne Storm's narrow victory over the Penrith Panthers on Thursday evening, and Craig Bellamy left the game with one big question.
On the stroke of halftime, the Storm, attempting to add to their six-point lead, would kick the ball off their own 20-metre line in taking a tap restart.
The ball wound up out of play, and Penrith challenged the decision, with the bunker referee Gerard Sutton finding Melbourne to be in an offside position, resulting in a Penrith penalty where they were able to cut the lead to four.
It wound up having no impact on the final result, but Bellamy said most of those types of decisions would simply called back, and confirmed he would be seeking clarity on the rule during the week.
"Usually when you get a 20-metre tap like that and someone isn't quite back on side, it's 'come back and tap it again' but this time it was a penalty, so we will probably ask someone why that was. I don't know all the rules, but how often do you see someone go back and do it again? Tonight though they are kicking for goal so I didn't understand," Bellamy said during his post-match press conference.
The other piece of controversy for the Storm during the game appeared to be the sin binning of Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
The towering prop was given his marching orders by Sutton in the bunker and on-field referee Ashley Klein during the second half for a high shot on Daine Laurie which did more damage to his own teammate Cameron Munster.
Bellamy admitted he hadn't seen the incident properly, but said Asofa-Solomona was the only player sin binned in a game where plenty went on report.
"To be quite honest, I didn't see it real close. I saw it once quickly and then it was back to the game, but I'd have to have a look at that. There were a few people on report and he was only one that went to the bin though," Bellamy said.
The tackle, which saw Munster head off (but ultimately pass) a head injury assessment, saw Bellamy forced to manouver Tyran Wishart into the halves. He played in multiple positions throughout the game, and Bellamy said it was testament to how far the ex-St George Illawarra Dragons' utility has come since making his NRL debut for the Storm.
"I didn't see the incident closely. I saw it once then we had to organise what we were going to do. The way he was laying on the ground I thought he probably won't be coming back on here, but with the way Tyran [Wishart] has been playing. He did a great job today. He played a bit in the ruck, a bit of five-eighth, a bit on the wing and when we had him warming up to go on first, we had him warming up to go on for Harry [Grant] when he got injured.
"That just goes to show how far he has come Tyran. To get ready or prepared to play dummy half, then all of a sudden you're five-eighth, now you're in the ruck, then you're on the wing, and to do the job he did, outstanding. That sort of summed up tonight though. Whatever came up, we seemed to be able to handle it okay."
In what wound up a two-point win, Bellamy admitted his side simply stuck at it, and while there would be a few things they weren't happy with, he was impressed with his team's performance.
"It is really pleasing. I thought we did a really good job and to get to that 10-0 lead, I think the disappointing part of it was how easy we sort of let it be 10-all. I thought we lost a bit of control of the game with our discipline and I thought our defence fell off a little bit there, but other than that I thought our guys were tremendous," Bellamy said.
"We just stuck at it. There were a few things we probably weren't happy with, but at the end of the day they all backed it up and backed each other up in defence, and we got there in the end."
Bellamy said the win was "as good as it gets".
"We are playing Penrith at home. They have won the last three premierships and four grand finals. We knew it was going to be tough to come here, but we were determined that we would try to play our best footy," Bellamy added.
"Hopefully we get to meet them again a little bit later on, but at the end of the day, we wanted to see where we were at. As I said, to play them here, it's a tough job."
The win all but locks up the minor premiership for the Storm, who now have a four-point lead to the Panthers with just three rounds to play.
The for and against difference between the two sides is minimal, with the Storm to play the Dolphins, North Queensland Cowboys and Brisbane Broncos over the final three weeks of the season - two wins in those games would put the minor premiership beyond mathematical doubt.
