Warriors ready to move on from ref howlers, RTS says
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck has made it clear the Warriors are ready to move on from the latest officiating controversy to hit the club, but not before giving his verdict on that pass.
The referees’ decision to rule Tuivasa-Sheck’s flick pass forward, denying what would have been a match-winning try, was one of the several contentious calls to go against the Warriors during Saturday’s 24-22 defeat to Parramatta.
The Warriors skipper said he felt the ball to unmarked winger Gerard Beale in the dying stages of the match was legitimate. Although, with Friday’s mustwin game against the high-flying Raiders approaching, it’s not something he’s wasted too much energy re-living in his head.
‘‘You know, that’s all I practise,’’ Tuivasa-Sheck said when asked if the pass went backwards.
‘‘At the end of the day it’s not up to me, it’s up to the guys out there. That moment’s gone and we’ve got to move on and get ready for this game.
‘‘I thought I was able to get it backwards but it’s hard to keep going on about it. We didn’t get the two points and we’ve got to move on.’’
The four on-field match officials, including head referee Chris Sutton and assistant Chris Butler, have been dropped to reserve grade this week for making what NRL head of football Graham Annesley deemed to be ‘‘serious errors’’ against the Auckland outfit.
The forward pass wasn’t actually among them as Annesley defended the whistleblowers on that decision, insisting it was line ball.
But Tuivasa-Sheck found support from two-time premiership coach and leading Australian commentator Phil Gould, who ‘‘felt sick for the Warriors’’.
‘‘It’s like dropping an apple out of a car window at speed, it travels forward,’’ Gould told Channel 9’s 100% Footy.
‘‘When a guy is running fulltilt at the fullback, and his hand is literally pointing backwards, how could it be a forward pass?! It’s physically impossible.’’
A win would have put the Warriors in ninth place, just outside the top eight on points differential.
Instead, they head into the Raiders clash at Mt Smart Stadium in 12th and probably needing to win five of their last six games to qualify for the playoffs.
There is an art to dealing with the referees, perhaps best shown by Storm legend Cameron Smith, which Tuivasa-Sheck admitted he was still learning.
But he warned the Warriors could ill-afford to dwell on the referees’ mistakes at the expense of where they went wrong and the areas that need addressing.
‘‘That part is tough, as captain, trying to chat with [the referee] and make sure we get a fair call,’’ Tuivasa-Sheck said.
‘‘At the time I was real frustrated but that’s part of the game and there are parts there that we can control, like the tries that they scored.
‘‘There were some soft tries from us and we have to put our hands up for that and try not to get to that situation.’’
Meanwhile, five-eighth Kodi Nikorima trained with the side yesterday and appeared to be running freely after sitting out last week’s loss due to an ankle injury.
He was joined by hooker Karl Lawton, who has missed the last three matches with a shoulder problem.
With veteran rake Issac Luke facing a two-week ban for a lifting tackle, it would be a timely return if Lawton were available on Friday.
Luke has disputed the grading of the charge and had his case heard at the NRL judiciary last night.