Despite the immediate fallout from the end of yesterday’s clash between North Queensland and Wests Tigers, both club coaches were measured in their responses immediately after the game, despite the wildly different emotions being felt.
The clash ended in controversy after the Tigers had all but secured a nail-biting one-point win that would have lifted them from the foot of the table. They collected the last kick-off of the game as the siren sounded and the game looked to be over.
From there the Cowboys were permitted to use a captain’s challenge by referee Chris Butler. The Bunker, overseen by Ashley Klein, decided that Kyle Feldt had been escorted off the ball by Asu Kepaoa as he chased the kick, a penalty was awarded and Valentine Holmes converted a post-siren penalty to break Tigers’ hearts.
The immediate aftermath was an absolute frenzy on social media, but the coaches were relatively calm by comparison.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten was almost upbeat after the game, claiming the controversial call was all part of the karmic cycle that is the NRL.
“If I look back on the season gone so far, we had a try taken off us last week which was huge,” Payten rationalised.
“Even back in Round 1, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow got a try taken off him with a couple of minutes to go which cost us a game.
“What goes around comes around, and we got one tonight. We got a call at the end. Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t. Tonight, we got one.”
It’s a stark contrast to the tone Payten took following his team’s Round 4 loss to the Roosters, where a number of sin-bins and other calls led to a post-game outburst as his team fought for room in the middle of the table.
“There were some calls tonight that went 50-50 against us,” Payten said back in April.
“Teams that have been up at the pointy end of the competition for a while now or have high-profile players get the benefit of the doubt too often. That’s frustrating, and it’s my opinion over watching footy for a long time.”
With the Cowboys in second place and the Tigers languishing in last, Payten’s perspective may have changed over the past few months.
Meanwhile, Tigers assistant coach Ben Gardiner won many new fans for his calm and composure, while also frustrating some of the old by refusing to buy into the confused vitriol doing the rounds on TV and social media.
“It was a moment of elation, followed by a moment of deflation,” Gardiner said.
“I wasn’t quite sure why the decision was made.
“My understanding is when The Bunker comes in to play when there is a challenge made, it has to be when there is an indiscretion in the play, when there is a breakdown.
“My understanding is we caught the ball, the game was over and that’s where it should have ended.
“I’ve been around coaching for a long time and you can get upset, you can complain, you can do all sorts of things, but it doesn’t change anything.”
Tigers officials have since announced that they may challenge the outcome of the game in what would be an historic first for Australian rugby league.
The NRL have said the decisions were all legal under the current rules. No doubt more will come to light following Graham Annesley’s weekly press conference, scheduled for later today.