Jarryd Hayne slams ‘disgraceful’ referees after 22-18 loss to Manly Sea Eagles
HIS courageous underdogs had just lost in the final 53 seconds after having to overcome a hefty 10-4 penalty count.
Frustrated and angry, Parramatta star Jarryd Hayne exploded.
Hayne could be fined $10,000 by the NRL after describing the refereeing of Jared Maxwell and Grant Atkins at Brookvale Oval as “disgraceful”.
Parramatta was poised for a massive boilover until Sea Eagles centre Steve Matai collected a Daly Cherry-Evans bomb to score in the final minute for a dramatic 22-18 win.
The Eels were left gutted.
“I will have to try and hold my tongue,” Hayne told Triple M right on fulltime. “I can’t believe some of the decisions out there today.
“Disgraceful - that is it. If I get in trouble for saying that it is a joke.
“We worked our arses off today - we were the better team. To get the decisions to go against us the way they did is upsetting.
“Every little thing we were being jumped on. We threw everything at them and it’s devastating the way we lost.”
30 minutes later in the Parramatta dressing room, Hayne - who battled an ankle injury throughout the game - had calmed a little.
He said: “We couldn’t get a break. Nothing was going our way.
“Don’t get me wrong, there were some decisions that were fair. But there were others where every 50-50 call went against us.”
Parramatta had come back from a 16-8 deficit midway through the second half to lead 18-16 with one minute remaining.
Cherry-Evans then bombed cross-field for winger Cheyse Blair - a former Eel - to flick the ball backwards for Matai to score out wide.
The match was littered with dropped ball but was tense right until the end.
Asked was he filthy at the refereeing like Hayne, Parramatta coach Brad Arthur said: “I’ll have to go back and look at the tape.
“The penalty count for 10-4. That made it hard for us. We tried hard but we need to be better.
“It was heartbreaking for the players and fans. At the end of the day, we have to pick ourselves up, get better and move forward.
“We tried our backsides off today. I am in it with the players. We have to find a way to win. Close enough isn’t good enough.”
Parramatta co-captain Tim Mannah was shattered at fulltime.
“It was gut wrenching,” Mannah said. “We don’t want to come to a game happy to get close - we want to win and we almost had it today.
“There were a lot of things we could have done better.
“Some things were frustrating out there but that’s footy. You deal with the cards you are dealt.”
Eels winger Semi Radradra was unstoppable, while Hayne was dangerous before sustaining his injury.
Radradra and Manly forward Glenn Stewart were both placed on report for high tackles.
Both team scored four tries each although Parramatta’s chances were hurt by Joseph Paulo missing his first three kicks at goal.
Manly coach Geoff Toovey was satisfied with his side’s great escape.
“It would have been heartbreaking to lose two close games here at Brookvale (Manly lost round one to Melbourne in golden point),” Toovey said.
“The football Gods were on our side today. We were in the match up to our eyeballs and we had a bit of luck with that last try.
“The players know it wasn’t our greatest performance.
“They (Parramatta) showed grit and determination and all of a sudden they were in front with a few minutes to go.”
Manly was without star backs Kieran Foran (calf) and Brett Stewart (hamstring). Foran is expected to return for Friday night’s match against the Sydney Roosters.
MANLY 22 (S Matai 2 P Hiku J Lyon tries J Lyon 3 goals) bt PARRAMATTA 18 (S Radradra 2 N Peats V Toutai tries J Paulo goal) at Brookvale Oval.
