STORM OUTLAST WARRIORS
THE NRL’s latest refereeing crackdown obviously doesn’t apply to the Melbourne Storm and Cameron Smith.
Just days after NRL referees boss Bernie Sutton fired off a warning for all clubs to stop slowing down the play the ball or risk getting pinged, Warriors coach Stephen Kearney last night questioned whether the NRL had bothered to send the email to itself.
Kearney also claimed the game’s under-fire match officials were being “poorly led” after watching his team strangled out of the game in the 12-6 loss to the new NRL ladderleaders.
Melbourne’s victory was their seventh on the trot and sees them join St George Illawarra and South Sydney on 28 competition points, while the Storm claim top spot with a better points differential.
While Craig Bellamy had every right to be happy, Kearney was less than impressed, with the Storm also winning the penalty count 10-7.
There was one incident involving Smith in the second half when he appeared to hit Ken Maumalo with two high shots in quick succession.
But even after Maumalo lost possession, the Warriors didn’t get a penalty.
In fact, the scrum feed went to the Storm.
Kearney did not want to blame the Storm or excuse his team for the loss, but conceded: “There were some moments that the officials didn’t get quite right either. Ken’s was a pretty obvious one.”