The Sea Eagles were leading the Eels 14-0 after 12 minutes on Sunday afternoon, but Anthony Seibold believes momentum swung after “the management of the game changed”.
The Eels managed to score four of the next five tries on their way to a 28-24 victory, surging ahead with a trio of four-pointers scored within the 12th and 43rd minute.
Speaking in the post-match press conference, Seibold was asked what he believed swung the momentum and pointed the finger at referee Peter Gough.
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“I need to be really careful what I say here but I think the management of the game changed a little bit,” Seibold said.
“So I think they started to get some calls their way, some field position and possession and they are a good enough side to take it right.
“But it was a fair game of footy right, both sides were in the contest… but they ultimately had a fair bit of possession.
“But I was really proud of the group, they kept fighting.”
During the 31 minute period Seibold was referring to, the Eels were awarded two set restarts to Manly’s one.
However, Brad Arthur’s side also completed at 82 per cent compared to the Sea Eagles 67 pern cent and also held 67 per cent of possession.
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Parramatta also had over double the amount of carries and were tackles in the opposition half 12 more times that their opponents.
When pressed on what he meant by the claim, Seibold wasn’t sure what sparked a supposed change in the way Gough officiated the game.
“I’m not too sure, I’m not too sure why it changed but just some of the interpretations in and around the ruck,” Seibold said.
“But they are all subjective right, so I’m not going to go into it but it just seems like the management of the game changed a little bit.
“You’ve got to adjust to that and the best teams can do that. We’re striving to be in that group of teams right at the top so we will keep improving.
“We’ll learn and get better.”
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