Gold Coast Titans interim coach Jim Lenihan has been left less than impressed with a pair of refereeing decisions in the club's narrow loss to the Canberra Raiders on Saturday, but admitted his side should never have been in that position.
A clumsy Titans side made 11 errors in the 26-22 loss to the green machine, who had to hang on at the end of the game after a late Tino Fa'asuamaleaui try gave the visitors life.
But it was a disallowed try to David Fifita on the stroke of halftime which left the Titans - and fans - frustrated with the officiating.
Bunker official Kasey Badger found David Fifita had interfered with the progress of Jamal Fogarty, who had all but stopped in the path of the barnstorming second-rower on his way to the try line.
Fifita appeared to shove Fogarty out of the way, although the play had looked likely an escort from Fogarty, rather than an obstruction from Fifita.
Lenihan said he hadn't had a good look at it but was frustrated nonetheless.
โI'm certainly disappointed we put ourselves in a position where we allowed bad luck to walk into the room and dance around,โ Lenihan said in his press conference.
โWith the Fifita one, I only saw the vision, I didn't really hear too much.
โIt is a silly situation where if David runs into the back of Jamal and falls over we get a penalty, but if David is trying to contest for the ball and get people out of his way that are trying to stop him from getting to the ball, he gets penalised.
โIt is one that I will obviously have to look at again, but in the big scheme of things it certainly had a major part to play.โ
Lenihan also believed there was cause for frustration in the Matt Timoko try, which sent the Raiders back ahead after a Jojo Fifita try following halftime.
โIt was six again and we get Brian Kelly who gets the ball steps back in and passes to Jolliffe who is trying to go for the corner,โ Lenihan said.
โHe was probably thinking I have [the] advantage and can play out of that and get back to a scrum, but obviously it goes down the other end."
The loss, which snaps a two-game winning streak for the Gold Coast, sends the club back to tenth on the ladder prior to Sunday's games - although they may hold that position at the end of the round with 7 wins from their 15 games.
Captain Tino Fa'asuamaleaui, who had a monster effort for the Titans, said it was frustrating.
โYou obviously have frustration, but you can't stay frustrated to win,โ Fa'asuamaleaui said.
โYou can't dwell on things, so obviously it is frustrating after the game, but I think we hurt ourselves more than anything.โ
The Titans won't have to wait long for their next clash, with a match against the Dolphins next Sunday afternoon at home without Origin plays to precede games against the Parramatta Eels, Sydney Roosters, North Queensland Cowboys, New Zealand Warriors, Cronulla Sharks, Penrith Panthers, Melbourne Storm and Canterbury Bulldogs in what is one of the toughest runs to the finish line in the competition.
