Storm coach Craig Bellamy had a “different opinion” of the Bunker’s decision to rule out a crucial Eli Katoa try which allowed a Jacob Liddle four-pointer to secure a 14-8 win for the Dragons.
With 15 minutes remaining, Cameron Munster kicked across the field for his towering back rower, targeting five-eighth Kyle Flanagan.
Initially, Katoa’s effort was awarded a four-pointer, until a Bunker review deemed he had lost control during the initial catch.
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The try would have given the Storm a potential six-point lead, crossing next to the posts, but
instead the scores remained 8-8 and Bellamy wasn’t sure the Bunker made the right call.
“We kept the video ref pretty busy in the second half,” Bellamy said before he was asked about Katoa’s denied try.
“I only had the one quick look at it to be honest, probably had a little bit of a different opinion but I will have a look at a couple of angles.
“Not much point complaining or whatever, it’s been done now and not going to change it.”
Storm skipper Harry Grant echoed his coach’s opinion, speaking to the honesty of his teammate.
“I usually back Eli in, he’s a pretty honest bloke in terms of that,” Grant said.
“We probably celebrated too early, we went back to get ready and it got called back. But like Craig said, you can’t go back and change it now.
“But it’s probably one for… they make that call they obviously see the error in it.
“We just have to be better with the next play and not dwell on that. I feel like they probably stopped a fair few of our opportunities today.
“It took us a little bit of time to move on from those, we dwelled on them a little bit too much.”
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Despite going down in their first loss of the season, the Storm held a slight edge when it came to both possession and territory, with 52 per cent of both at Jubilee Stadium.
However, they made two more errors and had a worse completion rate, which Bellamy believed cost his side dearly.
“We had a lot of opportunity in the first half, a lot of field position and a lot of ball,” Bellamy said.
“I think second half we didn’t complete so well and that didn’t help us and I thought St George defended really well.
“We probably had a couple of chances we could have, should have, but didn’t take and we paid the price for it.”
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