Eels coach Brad Arthur has queried a lack of enforcement of new rules from the referees during his side’s 26-18 loss to the Panthers at BlueBet Stadium.
Arthur was proud of his side for the way they competed, especially after they lost strike centre Bailey Simonsson early after a head knock.
However, Arthur was miffed that his team didn’t get the rub of the green with refereeing decisions.
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“We didn’t have a lot go right and a few things go against us, but we just have to suck it up and deal with it,” Arthur said in his post-game press conference.
“I didn’t think we did a lot wrong, while they were very good, there were just a couple of big moments that didn’t go our way which wasn’t great.
“Not a lot went right for us with a few calls I reckon.
“I just thought there are some rule changes there that need to be enforced. You can’t jump in front of blokes when they are catching the ball, you can’t be downtown in front of kicks.
“It was downtown. It’s the rule. It is what it is.”
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The play that Arthur is referencing was Penrith’s first try of the night when Dylan Edwards chased down a Nathan Cleary grubber in the 10th minute.
When Cleary put the kick in, Panthers back rower Isaah Yeo was moving forward towards the line about 2-3 metres in front of the star halfback and in front of where the previous play the ball took place.
A new interpretation on the ‘downtown’ rule was put in place by the NRL this season, which if policed correctly in this instance, should have meant a disallowed try and a penalty to Parramatta.
The rule reads: ‘In general play, if a player is in front of the kicker and intentionally advances beyond the point of the previous play the ball before the ball has gone past the chasers, a penalty will be awarded at the mark of the play the ball’.
Eels captain Clint Gutherson says his team still have to overcome bad calls to win games despite thinking they were “dudded”.
“Rules are rules. As Brad said we probably thought we got dudded on a couple, but we still got to try and win the game but we didn’t win,” he said.
“We’ve adjusted to them (the new rules) alright,” Arthur added.
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