The Parramatta Eels were moments away from completing a historic comeback, only to fall agonisingly short against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Saturday night.
After trailing 28-0 at half-time, the Eels produced a remarkable second-half fightback, keeping the Rabbitohs scoreless while piling on 24 unanswered points.
However, despite charging back into the contest, Parramatta ultimately ran out of time, going down 28-24.
Coach Jason Ryles believed his side did not get the rub of the green throughout the contest, particularly in the frantic final stages.
“I thought we got hard done by with some of the referees' calls,” Ryles said post-match.
“I thought that (Jordan Samrani near the end of the match) was tackled in the air, me and everyone else at the ground, and I'm not sure what they look at there.
“It's where we're at, at the moment, but it's really hard for us to get a six-again.
“It just all compounds, but it's not the referee's fault, but unfortunately we can't get anything off him at the moment.”
The Eels and Rabbitohs finished the night with four penalties conceded apiece, while Parramatta received three six-agains compared to South Sydney's two. The Rabbitohs also had two players placed on report.
However, Ryles admitted his side's disastrous opening period ultimately proved too costly.
Brian Kelly was sin-binned inside the opening 90 seconds for a professional foul, with South Sydney making the most of the extra man to score three tries in the following 10 minutes.
“We got jumped at the start,” Ryles continued.
“The ten in the bin sort of hurt us, and I'm not sure what else he does there, and there's milliseconds in it, and then they got three tries there so it's a costly ten minutes.
“But a couple of individuals just need to get better with our start of the game and our first half, and again more lessons.
“We've got to make sure we nail those first ten minutes in particular individually.
“The second half was what we planned to do and how we plan to play, and I thought the boys showed an enormous amount of fight, and we were unlucky in the end.”
Parramatta's task became even more difficult in the opening half when fullback Isaiah Iongi was forced from the field in the 30th minute with a suspected PCL or MCL knee injury.
With the Eels not carrying an outside back on their bench, they were forced into a reshuffle that saw recently recalled hooker Ryley Smith move into the centres, Jordan Samrani shift to the wing, and Josh Addo-Carr take over at fullback.
Despite the makeshift combination, the Eels refused to surrender, producing a second-half performance that briefly threatened to deliver an improbable comeback.
Instead, they remain 13th on the NRL ladder.
Parramatta now face a daunting run home, with clashes against the Cowboys, Dolphins and Sharks, before they finish their season against the Dragons.
