In the aftermath of the Parramatta Eels' tight loss to the Newcastle Knights, skipper Clint Gutherson and coach Trent Barrett have openly expressed their frustration over key refereeing decisions and Bunker rulings.
The critical moment in question was when Gutherson collided with referee Peter Gough, preventing him from making a potentially try-saving tackle on Greg Marzhew.
“He just said it was just unlucky, I was asking what was the go there, I could have got there a step earlier and maybe made the tackle,” Gutherson recounted of the incident.
Despite the referee's explanation that it was an accident, Gutherson's frustration was palpable.
“I'm trying my best to get to the corner and make a tackle but that's not what cost us the game, it's other things at the moment.”
Blaize Talagi was denied a hat-trick by the Bunker, ruling that he lost possession before the try line. The ruling, which has divided sections of the NRL committee, was a significant blow to the Eels' momentum.
Coach Trent Barrett did not mince words about his disagreement with the decision.
“We thought that was a try,” Barrett asserted.
“There's a few dubious decisions each week but we're just not getting them at the moment, but we need them. It's not a great position we're in at the minute, and we needed that one," he lamented.
Barrett's frustration with the Bunker's involvement was evident as he reflected on the game's critical moments.
“We just couldn't get any luck with some of our calls. The Bunker was involved in a lot of things tonight, and we couldn't really get one... Sometimes you get them [in-favour Bunker calls] and sometimes you don't. We were on the wrong side of a few, and we just needed a few of them to go our way," he continued.
