A clearly agitated Roosters coach Trent Robinson has slammed the performance of referees Gavin Badger and Grant Atkins following the Tricolours’ shock 16-12 loss to Newcastle on Friday night.
In a game full of controversies, with the Roosters disallowed three tries in the first half and enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves sent to the sin-bin for swearing at the referee, coach Robinson was livid following fulltime.
"The video referee decision where it went through the legs of James Maloney, it was given a try and then it wasn't a try. As soon as Jared [Waerea-Hargreaves] gets sent for 10, you could just feel [the decisions turning against us]," Robinson told reporters after the game.
"They were looking at stuff from us to award penalties and even on the last one when Mason hits the deck, the referee calls 'play the ball' and then he gets up and the referee goes quiet and allows him to play on. Those things irk you.
"It was a poor performance from the referees. You could tell that they were scrutinising, they were searching for Jared there right from the start and you're not allowed to swear at the ref but if you say 'that's an effen forward pass' and that's sin-binable, we should see it every week.
"There has been no explanation [from the referees about their decisions]. There has been nothing all year. Nothing will change."
While he didn't pile all the blame on the referees, Robinson admitted that his side were "out-scrapped" and saw that the Knights disappointment of losing their RiseForAlex fixture last weekend definitely had them primed to cause an upset.
"We worked hard for it. We both came for an arm-wrestle and we both got stuck into it there. We had enough opportunities. We didn't take the opportunities we had," Robinson said.
"They had some fresh guys in there ready to play some footy but it was disappointing from us. Our discipline in the game there, and then just struggling to finish the game off... it was pretty poor."
With the Roosters unlucky to be ahead just 6-nil at halftime, Roosters captain Anthony Minichiello admitted that their emotion got the better of them when all was said and done.
"We came in at halftime and said to one another to stay patient," Minichiello said. "We missed a few opportunities there but we weren't frustrated with it at halftime but it certainly got the better of us in the second half."
