Robinson lashes NRL referees

A frustrated Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has lashed the NRL after his side were denied a match-winning try by the video referee in their 22-20 loss to Manly on Saturday.

After the Sea Eagles worked their way back from 16-8 down early in the second half at Allianz Stadium, the Roosters looked like they had snatched victory in the dying stages when fullback Latrell Mitchell crossed.

However, they were knocked back for what would have been a spectacular four-pointer by the video referees, who ruled Mitchell Aubusson was offside in the lead up.

With seven minutes left, winger Daniel Tupou fielded a bomb, threw it back for Mitchell, who kicked again and after the ball deflected off Manly captain Jamie Lyon, Aubusson pirouetted through the line and produced a stunning offload to send Mitchell over.

But Aubusson was ruled by the bunker to be in front of Mitchell when he sent the second kick through, with Robinson scathing of the decision which denied his team their first win over the year.

“We could all see that he was behind,” Robinson said.

“What are you going to do? Draw a line on the screen? It was pretty obvious. Just make a call. We know they got it wrong.”

While Robinson stopped short of saying it cost them the game, pointing to subsequent opportunities, he said it was clear from the vision that Aubusson was behind Mitchell.

“It was pretty common sense, the way that their feet were and all that,” Robinson said.

The loss leaves the Roosters anchored at the bottom of the table after four rounds.

After the match, Robinson addressed his troops and expressed his disappointment at not being able to get over the line for winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall in his 200th match.

Kenny-Dowall had a blinder in a losing side, scoring a first-half double, setting up Blake Ferguson and running for 199 metres.

“We’ve been playing off the back of Shaun a lot,” Robinson said.

“He was desperate to get a win and kept going and kept going and kept going.

“He created a lot of those opportunities for us. We couldn’t do it. We acknowledged that after the game, it was disappointing not to get that win for Shaun.”

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!