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Elliott furious with referees
Having a blue ... a fight erupts between Storm and Penrith players with Greg Inglis in the middle. Photograph: Colleen Petch / The Sunday Telegraph
MELBOURNE STORM 16 PENRITH PANTHERS 14
FURIOUS Penrith coach Matt Elliott has blamed referees Tony Archer and Chris James as his team were denied a shock away victory against Melbourne. In a heavyweight slugfest, the Panthers took everything the Storm could throw at them and came up agonisingly short.
Diminutive fullback Lachlan Coote was in the firing line throughout, involved in a fight with Greg Inglis in the first half and then slammed into the ground by Will Chambers in the second.
Chambers was put on report for the hit which forced Coote to leave the field for a time before returning late in the match.
Elliott said he would front referees boss Robert Finch after the Panthers were denied what would have been a match-winning try in the 70th minute. Luke Lewis was ruled to have thrown a forward pass before Shane Elford crossed in the corner.
Elliott spent 30 minutes consoling his men in the dressing rooms before teeing off in a bitter post-match press conference.
"I am peeved, absolutely,'' Elliott said. "I felt they deserved that win. I don't think they fell down. For the second time this year, a result of our game was decided by decision out of our control.
"That is twice this year. There was three penalties given away right in front of the posts, I don't know if any of you noticed that. There was a decision not to award a try and there were three penalties awarded in front of the sticks. It will be scrutinised, that is for sure.''
Only a 60th minute Cameron Smith penalty goal separated the sides as the Panthers again proved they are no easybeats.
"I have got players in that dressing room who tried their hearts out and I have to ask questions on their behalf,'' Elliott said. "Again, there were decisions made that were the difference in the result between two very committed teams.
"My responsibility is to make sure they were the right decisions and to make sure we are not disappointed again. It cost us the game against the Bulldogs (in round two) - there were two mistakes they admitted.
"The referees are big blokes and don't shy away from their mistakes. I will be very interested to see what they will say. There are a few things I will need clarification on.''
Elliott was also critical of the Chambers tackle on Coote, with the NRl sure to investigate what was reported as a dangerous throw. "He got dropped on his head basically,'' Elliott said.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, who was an animated figure in the coaching box throughout the match, conceded his halves combination was in need of a major overhaul. They went within just two points of rare back-to-back defeats at Olympic Park.
In fact, the last time that happened was in 2005. The NSW Origin coach confirmed the club would look at bringing in dumped Eels playmaker Brett Finch in the wake of the narrow win.
"I don't know if I have thought about it too much,'' Bellamy said. "I will have a look at it on Monday. It is about whether he wants to play in the NRL or go to England.''
Fulltime
MELBOURNE 16 (A Quinn B Slater tries C Smith 4 goals) bt PENRITH 14 (L Lewis B Tighe tries M Gordon 3 goals) at Olympic Park. Referee: T Archer, Chris James. Crowd: 10,110.
