Penrith Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary believes it shouldn't be NRL officials determining which obstructions do and don't impact the defensive line.
His comments come after a controversial decision to allow a try to stand for Manly outside back Lehi Hopoate during a tense win in the final game of Round 9 at CommBank Stadium.
During the second half of the fixture, Lehi Hopoate went over for the Sea Eagles, but it appeared star Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary had been obstructed as he slid wide, only for the bunker to rule the obstruction didn't have a bearing on the try.
Cleary questioned whether officials really understood what obstructions did and didn't impact a try, labelling it a problem.
“(There were) almost two lead runners actually taking out a player who's actually heading towards where the ball's going,” he said during his post-match press conference.
“I think we've got a bit of an issue when officials are making decisions on whether it's affected the defensive line. Respectfully, I don't think that's something in their... do they learn how to do that when they're learning about refereeing?
“I'm not sure about that. I don't know how you say that. I mean, you don't because it does.
“Certainly the way we defend, if you lose one of the guys on the inside it absolutely affects the rest of what's going on out there and I think it's pretty obvious that, as I said, he saw the ball, he was heading towards it.
“I think either one or two blokes clearly are in the way. So in other words, he was making a good decision.
“Whereas there's plenty of bad decisions to get rewarded, and that's the sort of change we tried to make last year. So in this case, I would say that was a good decision but he couldn't get to where he needed to get to.
“I think the bigger thing is I don't think we should allow the Bunker officials to make a decision that it has affected the defensive line or it hasn't. I'm just not sure how he knows that, and who teaches him that.”
Penrith held on for what was their eighth win in nine starts, while Manly had their first loss under Kieran Foran in a gallant effort against NRL's best.
The win leaves Penrith two points clear at the top of the table despite not yet having a bye, while Manly are clinging onto a spot in the top eight.
The Panthers clash with the Raiders in Canberra next Sunday, while Manly host the Broncos at Brookvale.
