Fuming Canterbury coach Dean Pay may get even angrier on Monday with the NRL set to review his scathing criticism of officials after a controversial 22-20 loss to Brisbane.
A heavy fine may loom for Pay who hinted at a conspiracy theory after the “ridiculous” 79th-minute decision to sin bin No.1 Moses Mbye for a professional foul, gifting Brisbane the match-winning penalty.
“It’s like we are not supposed to win,” a livid Pay said.
A $10,000 fine is slapped on coaches for “minor discretions” but there is scope for more significant breaches as indicated by penalties to Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan ($30,000) and Manly mentor Trent Barrett ($20,000) in last year’s finals.
The NRL indicated Pay would learn his fate on Monday.
“The comments will be reviewed but no decision will be made until after the full round,” a spokesman told AAP.
Pay didn’t hide his anger over a string of tough calls which culminated in Mbye being sin-binned just as golden point beckoned with scores locked at 20-all.
Mbye was given his marching orders for impeding Darius Boyd as the Brisbane No.1 tried to regather a James Roberts kick and score the match-winner.
Replays showed light contact from Mbye before Boyd went to ground and immediately jumped up appealing for a penalty.
“I got a group of blokes who busted their arse and to be decided like that, it’s ridiculous,” Pay said.
“I will follow it up with them (NRL referees boss Bernard Sutton) and they will say ‘we got it wrong’ and they will just move on – it doesn’t help us.
“We are trying to win a game of footy here and get our season going forward and it’s decided like that.”
Boyd insisted that Mbye had made contact.
“It was very slight but I did (feel it). I think I could have got it on the next bounce and it got me a bit off balance,” he said.
Pay even had a problem with the way referee Gerard Sutton spoke to his players.
The Bulldogs coach wasn’t happy that David Klemmer was penalised for backchatting when he approached Sutton as stand-in skipper with captain Josh Jackson on the bench.
It gifted Brisbane a 52nd-minute penalty that locked up the scores 14-14.
“It’s the way he speaks to my players as well,” Pay said.
“He (Sutton) didn’t even ask him if he was captain at the time. Dave said he was (captain) but was penalised for back chatting.
“He wasn’t aggressive towards him. He was asking a question.”
Canterbury are already battling to make the finals after slumping to a 2-7 record with their fourth loss in five games.
“We put ourselves in a position to win it. For it to come down to a decision like that, it’s heartbreaking,” captain Jackson said.
“It’s two points. They are gold for us at the moment.”
