Newcastlerabbit
Coach
- Messages
- 14,937
Brad Walter
August 20, 2011
COWBOYS hooker James Segeyaro visited the South Sydney dressing rooms to congratulate them on their golden-point win, despite his coach Neil Henry and captain Johnathan Thurston accusing Issac Luke of diving to win a match-winning penalty against the Papua New Guinean.
A furious Henry tabled a list of complaints at the post-match press conference over the officiating of the game that he claimed contributed to his side now being in danger of slumping from fourth place to sixth if the Warriors and Wests Tigers win on the weekend.
''To decide the game on an arm that came off a ball that tapped a chin of a man who decided to stay down results in, I think, an unfair way to decide a game of footy,'' Henry said.
Advertisement: Story continues below
''It was a decision that was made by the officials in wet conditions, [but] where do you want me to start? A 4-0 penalty count at the start of the game, an 8-3 penalty count in the game - I refuse to believe that my side is that ill disciplined - and three penalties back-to-back to help them out of the yardage end.''
Henry also objected to Souths fullback James Roberts being awarded a benefit-of-the-doubt try after video referee Sean Hampstead looked at whether there had been an obstruction play and a strip on Ray Thompson after he was forced out of the Rabbitohs in-goal.
Asked if he would have stayed down if he thought he'd been hit high so the video referee could decide whether to award a penalty, Thurston said: ''No, I don't play that way and neither does our team''.
Segeyaro, who played for Souths in Toyota Cup before joining the Cowboys, was placed on report for the 84th-minute incident and Rabbitohs coach John Lang said the incident warranted a penalty.
''He hit him high, so it is a penalty,'' Lang said. ''It was very unfortunate for them but if it happened 10 times, he would give a penalty 10 times.''
Sandow, who had converted Chris McQueen's 79th-minute try from the sideline to send the game into extra time said the 30-metre penalty goal from in front had been harder.
Lang said he had been confident Sandow would kick the sideline conversion but described the Rabbitohs performance as ''one of the gutsiest wins of my career''.
Souths are expected to have centre Greg Inglis and captain Roy Asotasi back for next weekend's trip to Brisbane, but fullback Nathan Merritt is unlikely to play after suffering a quadriceps injury in the warm-up.
John Sutton has a suspected broken hand that forced him from the field midway through the second half.
Sutton returned but had his hand heavily strapped.
Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rug...-home-final-20110819-1j2vb.html#ixzz1VXBWigYp
