A fuming Des Hasler revealed he rang Graham Annesley after full-time as his side were denied a match winning try by a contentious Bunker ruling.
Brian Kelly was ruled to have dropped the ball in the act of scoring, which is the second tough call to rob the Titans this season, but Hasler believes it was a penalty to the Titans at least.
“Try yeah every day of the week,” Hasler said.
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Titans robbed in Bunker controversy | 01:30
“The Bunker it’s crazy. Hand never came away from the ball and if it did it is a penalty for a one-on-one strip isn’t it?
“They don’t know. They don’t know.”
Kelly himself told reporters he was certain he’d scored the try saying: “bloody oath it was a try, I feel like I had control of it.
“My arm was still holding the ball as well as the two Knights players on the ball, frustrating but it’s an other tight one we’ve let slip away.
“We’ve just got to go back to the drawing board… it was a try, knock out football and that’s play on.”
Hasler also took issue with the Knights being off-side for most of the second half as they stormed home from 24-10 down to win 28-24.
“What can you say?” Hasler said.
“It is pretty clear to see. It is painted pretty obvious.
“And even the second half, the off-side. They were just clearly jumping the line the whole time.
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“It just makes it really difficult.
“Very proud of the way they fought back into it. It was very difficult. We had injuries very early.
“It is very frustrating for the players with the competition being so close. To go through what they went through for most of that half and be in a position to win the game and it is just, yeah.”
Hasler was asked if he would seek clarity on the decision.
“It will be the same clarity, we got it wrong, ‘oh we are sorry, let’s move on’,” Hasler said.
“‘Oh sorry, they are only human’, which they are. We all make mistakes.”
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Hasler was then pressed on if he would ring Annesley to discuss the call.
“I’ve already rang him,” Hasler said.
However, he would not share what was said.
“No comment,” Hasler replied.
Speaking on Hasler’s demeanour post-match, Kelly said: “He was pretty pissed, but Des is passionate about the team. I back him and he backs me”.
Hasler implored Annesley and the NRL to put the fans first after Bunker decisions have plagued the 2024 season to date.
“I feel really sorry for the fans and the players,” Hasler said.
“The fans just get the rough end. Maybe Graham needs to consider that.”
Kelly echoed his coach’s sentiment and was of the belief the Titans could have four more wins this season.
“We had a good first half and we grinded away, we sort of let in some soft tries… it was an unlucky game, but we were still a chance of winning it,” Kelly said.
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“But like I said, I thought I’d scored… It’s frustrating, we’ve had the Raiders, we should have won, Manly and even Storm was a tight one.
“So we’ve had four close ones that we probably should have knocked on the head and won, it’s sapping but it’s footy. We go again the next week and try get a win.”
However, Knights coach Adam O’Brien believes the Bunker got the call right.
“I wasn’t happy about it, I thought we could have done a better job in defence,” O’Brien said.
“But the technology is there and we used it and it was the right call.
“The technology showed. At the time I thought it was a try, but watching the replay and hearing the explanation I agree.”
Source Agencies
