‘It cost us the game’: Eels furious over missed call in match-winning try as Gutho unleashes on Bunker
Parramatta were left furious following a brutal loss on Friday night and accused officials of allowing a blatant obstruction in the lead up to Penrith’s match-winning try.
Eels skipper Clint Gutherson called the Bunker “a lottery” while interim coach Trent Barrett was just as scathing of the missed call in the 78th minute.
The Panthers needed one more try to pull off an epic comeback and Izack Tago scored it at the death, but replays showed lead runner Liam Martin taking out Eels defender Daejarn Asi.
Despite a lengthy review, the try stood and Nathan Cleary knocked over the conversion to hand the premiers an incredible 36-34 victory. “The last try I thought there was an obstruction in there and a pretty bad one too,” Barrett said.
“How that happens with the officiating that we’ve got and how many people are looking at it, I don’t know. Daejarn Asi got knocked over by Liam and it shouldn’t have been a try. “The game is cruel at times and it was cruel at the end.
“There were a few (calls) and sometimes that happens when you’re not supposed to be winning, you know when Penrith are the premiers and maybe they were a bit surprised we were in the contest and we didn’t get a couple (of calls) tonight.
“The last one is hard to cop, you just can’t do that, you see it every other week and they get pulled up… and that cost us the game.
“I just feel for the players, they were the better side and didn’t deserve to lose that tonight.”
Gutherson echoed the sentiment and didn’t mince his words on the Bunker, which has been under heavy scrutiny all season as the video review officials jump from one controversy to the next.
“I said to challenge it and (referee Peter Gough) said it’s all going to be checked and it seemed to take a long time for them looking at it,” Gutherson said.
“If you’re looking at it that long then there has to be something there. I feel like if their lead (runner) is hitting our half and he’s hitting the deck then we can’t have cover tackles, we don’t have the movement to get there.
“I thought the rule now was if they get taken out… it’s a lottery at the moment which is disappointing.
“It’s just disappointing, we put so much effort into that game.”
Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo was asked about the call and he said all the contentious decisions even out over the course of a season.
“I’ve been big on it the whole year, sometimes you get them and sometimes you don’t,” Yeo said.
“We didn’t get all that many tonight either. But the 50-50s, over the course of the season they all marry up. I don’t think there was anything wrong with it.
“Obviously Gutho went up to him because they were under the pump, but over the course of a year they all even up.”