Raiders coach Ricky Stuart was left fuming at referee Chris Sutton's decision to sin bin Jack Wighton in Canberra's scrappy win over the Warriors on Sunday.
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Wighton was marched midway through the first half after a series of offside penalties called against the Raiders. But Stuart was adamant his five-eighth had not infringed. That was one of seven penalties called against Canberra in the first half.
It forced a visibly frustrated Stuart to rejig his backline which was already reeling from the absence of halfback George Williams, who came off with a head knock after seven minutes and played no further part.
"Jack Wighton's sin bin, would've that been the same decision if it was a semi-final? I hope not because he wasn't offside. You can't make that error," Stuart said.
"I just spoke to the kid down there and he said 'I do that every week, I know the timing and the judgement, that's my job'.
"Thank God COVID's in, I tell you, because we won't get any more than 6000 to these games.
"It was a shocking game of football. If we had have put some lineouts in when the ball went out, it would've been two rugby union games in here in two days. Disgraceful.
"If my team was giving those penalties away, that's well and good we get penalised for it. They were doing the same types of things and not getting penalised for it and this is not the first time.
"It really frustrates me and if I saying anything you just get pay back so I don't need to say anything more about it. I don't think it went both ways in regards to what we were getting penalised for."
Despite his frustrations, Stuart said he would not be raising the issue with NRL head of football Graham Annesley.
"I won't be raising any points, I'll be doing my review, and they'll do their review, go into hiding with their results and it'll be game on next week," Stuart said.
"Graham Annesley is a really nice man, he's been in the game for a long time, but in regards to rugby league, Graham Annesley and myself, we are planets apart.
"I've been around the game for long enough to know and see where we create a foul, we create an incident where we get penalised, I understand that, I get that.
"But then when you see the opposition doing the exact same thing I expect the penalty to be there, too."