Ivan Cleary has revealed he had no issue with the Melbourne Storm's opening controversial try in a narrow loss on Thursday evening, while refusing to comment on James Fisher-Harris being penalised late in the game.
In what was a tight encounter between the two premiership heavyweights, the opening try was shrouded in controversy after Nathan Cleary (who suffered a shoulder injury late in the game) appeared to be taken out off the ball.
Instead of blaming the decision though in the two-point loss, coach Cleary said it was the defensive read from Izack Tago which created space for the Storm to run away and score the game's opening points.
"Not unlike last week in the Parramatta game though. Tags [Izack Tago] sort of bit in on the lead runner and they got done on the outside. I always thought if you make a bad defensive read on the outside, it doesn't matter what happens on the inside. It used to be a rule, I don't know if it still is, but I was comfortable with that," Cleary said during the post-match press conference.
The coach was far less willing to agree - or comment at all - on a late penalty against James Fisher-Harris for an alleged late shot, which allowed Nick Meaney to slot a 73rd-minute penalty goal and put the Storm ahead by the eventual winning margin.
"Maybe," Cleary said when asked whether the call was 'fair'.
"There was a lot of calls, a lot of things going on tonight. That I don't know, but at the end of the day they made the call."
The Penrith boss said that while his side was disappointed by the tries they let in, he was happy with the 'good footy' played outside of that.
"The tries they scored, we were disappointed. Every one of them. The try off the scrum, two on last plays where I just don't think we were urgent enough, and then probably the worst one I've seen in five years I reckon," Cleary said.
"Apart from that, I thought we showed a lot and played a lot of good footy. That's how I'd sum the game up."
The loss leaves the Panthers four points behind the Melbourne Storm with just three rounds to play, but still in pole position for a spot in the top two and a home qualifying final.
