Broncos coach Michael Maguire was dumbfounded over the disrupter rule after Gehamat Shibasaki was penalised denying the Broncos a crucial try in their 35-31 loss to the Cowboys.
It was not the only contentious call, with Scott Drinkwater penalised for taking out Josiah Karapani, but Shibasaki’s call was brutal because it appeared Tom Chester had dropped the ball cold before he became involved in the play.
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“I’ve got to say, I’ve got no idea on that, it’s bizarre,” Maguire said.
“There was one in the corner over there, where they were doing exactly the same thing, so they’re either going to get consistency around it or don’t touch it because as the outside backs, we practice to catch the ball.
“That is part of what you do and what I saw with Gehamat going up there, he wasn’t near the body, or near Chester when he was catching it. He was actually further away from him, so I just can’t believe that ruling it’s bizarre.
“But if they’re going to go down that path, well make sure there is consistency and you guys can talk about that one.”
Maguire questioned where the NRL are taking the disrupter rule, given players are trained to catch the ball.
“The outside backs, their job is to catch the ball,” Maguire said.
“We practice that all day, every day. We practice that same incident all the time, so I just don’t quite understand what they’re trying to do with that rule when the ball was already through the arms before he even actually got to the player, so I don’t get it.”
The Broncos’ injury woes continued with hookers Cory Paix and Blake Mozer ruled out with HIA’s, but Maguire said he would contest the former.
“That in itself is something that we’re going to have to review too,” Maguire said.
“I mean, Blake he actually was cat one, but he gets given cat two. Paix ran off passed the test and got cat one. I don’t quite get that.
“But we’re not a team that should be going down this path because I love my players and how they just get on with things and I’m proud of what they had to do out there.
“But there’s a number of things there that, you’ve got to look at and go, well it wasn’t our night, so we’ve got to just get back together again.
“I think Paix will be fine for next week. He ran off and was ready to run back out again. I don’t quite understand that one, but that was the call from external.
“So I’ll go through the right channels here with the doctors and review that one, but honestly, talking to Paix, he can’t believe it himself.
“But then on the flip side, you have got Mozer with a potential jaw that might be broken, so that’s grand.”
Maguire was disappointed for Mozer, who has had a tough run with injuries, but praised his players for weathering the storm.
“He’s still in the changeroom and the doctors are assessing him at the moment, which is a real shame,” Maguire said.
“Like he’s worked really hard and I thought he was going good out there. Everyone’s talked about Blake Mozer since I’ve been here and he just hasn’t had a run at the moment, so we were all excited for him.
“And Tom Duffy comes out there and I thought Tom did a great job for us and I could go across the team, Payne Haas, Patty Carrigan they were outstanding through the middle.
“There was a lot thrown at us. We’ll go through what Patty faced here in the first half and they hung tight and at halftime, they felt that they were going to go out and fight with all the different hurdles that were in front of us, so that’s the team I know I’ve got.”
The Broncos will also be sweating on the match review committee after Carrigan was sin-binned for a high shot on Chester, but it appeared a tough call from the referees.
“It’s tough, I didn’t get to see the replay so honestly it felt like he hit me square in the chest,” Carrigan said.
“The most disappointing thing is having to spend 10 off and put your team under pressure with how quick the game is at the moment. And those 12 points while I was off was pretty costly.
“So I’ve got to own that one and be better there, but it’s tough to comment. I didn’t quite get a chance to see a replay of it.”
Maguire was adamant it was not deserving of a sin bin or a suspension.
“It was chest, that’s how I saw it,” Maguire said.
“I’ll go back and have a look at it, but it’s an interesting one that one because I felt it was just a really good chest tackle.”
Despite the loss, Maguire praised his team for their effort in nearly pulling out a famous win against the odds.
“There was a lot going on out there, they have been showing their true form over the last few weeks and tonight’s performance, they had to really dig in for each other through the circumstances,” Maguire said.
“We had a fair bit of carnage there at the back end of the game and they kept fighting. “They’re pretty disappointed in there, the game was there to be taken. But really proud of how they fight for each other. It’s something there that resembles what we know this team’s about.”
Originally published as ‘Can’t believe that’: Broncos coach fumes over controversial call
