Storm coach Craig Bellamy and skipper Cam Munster have refused to blame the officials after Melbourne were on the wrong end of three huge penalties in the final ten minutes.
Two of those penalties involved lock Trent Loiero, who had a game to forget with four penalties conceded in total.
The last game of Magic Round was clouded in controversy following the huge call to take a likely match-winning field goal off Melbourne before Canberra won in golden point.
Ryan Papenhuzyen’s 75th minute field goal was rubbed out when the Bunker pinged Loiero for foul play in the tackle right before the field goal.
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Loiero’s elbow made contact with Raiders skipper Joe Tapine’s face that by the letter of a law is a penalty, but it’s also an interaction that would happen countless times in every match.
“Ryan Papenhuyzen kicks a field goal from right in front, the referee though has his hands in the air, he wants to talk about what happened on the ground between Loiero and Tapine to see if the field goal will stand,” Warren Smith said on Fox League.
“If there was foul play here, this would take the field goal off the books.”
Referee Gerard Sutton then told Storm captain Cameron Munster: “Trent, when he’s tackled uses the elbow, he’s on report and it’s a penalty.”
“That’s a massive call in this game,” Kevin Walters said in commentary on Fox League.
“That is absolutely stunning…. I’ve never seen that before,” Smith said.
“Loiero transgressed first and cost his side a seven-point lead.”
Bellamy was asked about the incident and while he said he had only seen the replay once, the Storm coach preferred to blame the discipline of his team instead of the referees, giving Loiero a bake in the process.
“I don’t know who was the instigator… at the end of the day you can’t be giving the ball away in those positions,” Bellamy said.
“I only had a look at it once so I’m not exactly sure what happened but to turn the ball over 15 metres from their line, if he was in the wrong, he needs to pick his discipline up.
“It’s unlike anyone. You show me a bloke who gives away two players who give the ball away in the game. You’re not looking at too many people. It doesn’t happen often.”
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Canberra went on to the game in golden point when Jamal Fogarty knocked over a penalty in front after Loiero gave away another penalty for a high shot on Hudson Young.
“It’s a penalty, high contact and it’s Trent Loiero again. A night to forget for the lock forward,” Smith said.
“I’ve got to say, that’s pretty hard on Trent Loiero, very difficult, what’s he meant to do there, he can’t get out of the way, he’s got to go in front, he lowered his contact and it was the way that Hudson Young carried the ball,” Walters said.
“You can see Trent Loiero say to the ref ‘what am I meant to do there sir’ but you can see the contact on the replay, we know it’s a penalty.”
Munster said that while the penalties were very costly, the Storm should be focused on their own discipline.
“I can’t remember the last time a team got penalised with the ball but in saying that, we played some dumb footy tonight,” the stand-in skipper said.
“As much as it looked like it was in the hands of the ref, we have to be disciplined with the ball.
“We have some learnings, but it’s a tough pill to swallow. We can’t afford to keep doing it.
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