Cronulla Sharks head coach Craig Fitzgibbon has teed off on NRL officiating for the second straight week as he feels the pressure ahead of the finals.
The Sharks have qualified to the top eight and will host an eliminiation final next weekend, but enter the knockout rounds in awful form, losing four of their last five matches.
Stretching back to a shock loss against wooden spooners the St George Illawarra Dragons at Kogarah on August 9, the Sharks followed that up with a home loss to the Canberra Raiders, a scratchy road win over the Gold Coast Titans, a heavy loss away from home against the Parramatta Eels, and on Saturday evening, a last-minute loss to the Melbourne Storm where officiating issues were the centre of discussion.
The Sharks found themselves down 12-0 early and wrestled their way back into the game before a freakish final play for the Storm saw them pinch a win on the siren.
Sharks head coach, who watched his side concede 38 points last weekend but still wanted to have a go at the officials for a lopsided infringement count, took the officials to task this week over a forward pass in the lead up to Hugo Peel's opening try, and Sua Fa'alogo's early try where it was ruled on field he has grounded the ball on the dead ball line, but disagreed with by the bunker.
“If you don't know what a forward pass looks like at this current point of your career, I don't know either,” he said.
“I just thought we'd played well enough to win the game today. And then you have that.
“It's not going to change what happens next week either. So in fact, if I'm sooking about it, it will put pressure on me next week.
“I don't want to challenge the integrity of the game, but I'd like to see the integrity of the game remain. A forward pass is a forward pass, and if you're going to back the referee, back the referee. But don't back him some weeks and then turn around the week after and don't do it."
After last weekend's lopsided infringement count, captain Cameron McInnes also claimed players didn't know week to week what they were going to get from the six-again rule.
“You just don't know what you're going to get,” McInnes said.
“I've been playing the game a long time and I couldn't tell you what they're for.
“I know it's hard for the ref, but like sometimes it just feels like it's for the sake of it.”
The six-again rule - and the consistency of the way it has been officiated - has been a constant bug bear for fans and players alike this year, although it has been used more sparingly during the second half of the season with the number - and subsequently the number of high-scoring blowout results - reducing.
Cronulla will clash with the North Queensland Cowboys in the opening weekend of the finals.
