Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has been left at a loss for words over Latrell Mitchell's second try during a thrilling loss to the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Thursday night.
The Panthers - who scored all 18 of their points through the finishing and goal-kicking ability of Stephen Crichton, found themselves in the lead after the third try scored by the gun centre, who made as strong of an audition for his selection in the State of Origin arena as he possibly could in the loss.
But after the 70th-minute try to Crichton, which put Penrith ahead by 18 points to 10, Mitchell would cross for his second try in the 74th minute, before Isaiah Tass scored inside the final two minutes to wrap the game up in favour of the home side.
Bouncing back after losing to Penrith only weeks ago, it was Mitchell's second try which left Cleary confused, suggesting it was 'dubious' after came after a bat back from Cody Walker from a Lachlan Ilias kick.
“I just thought it was the bounce of the ball a bit tonight, I mean the second last try was very dubious I would have thought,” Cleary said.
“But again it is a collection of moments throughout the game. It is not just one play.
“I thought they probably won the big moments tonight.”
The loss leaves the Penrith second on the table, but in danger of dropping to fourth spot by the end of the weekend should the New Zealand Warriors and Manly Sea Eagles win their games against the Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers respectively.
A four and three record for the Panthers to go with their bye shows the tightness of the competition early on, and the back-to-back premiers have lost just one less game than they lost all of last year already.
The performance followed last week's effort against the Newcastle Knights where Penrith were forced to come from behind and ultimately win the contest in golden point.
Despite the frustration at Mitchell's second try, Cleary said he was proud of the performance.
“Like I said to the boys, wins and losses come and go, but what you are made of and the culture of our club I'm still very proud of it and tonight was no different,” Cleary said.
“We played much better than last week, which we needed to. It was a great game.
“Someone's got to win and I couldn't begrudge them the victory tonight either.
“Like I said it could have gone either way. We have had a few this year now, but we are proving hard to beat and playing well for the most part, so I'm happy in that sense.”
The Panthers now enjoy a nine-day turnaround before they take on the Wests Tigers in Bathurst next Saturday.