Brad Fittler's complaint over Queensland's tactics and Ashley Klein's failure to police the ruck in Game 1 appeared to have fallen on deaf ears - right up until kick-off in Game 2 of the series.
The Blues may not have had the rub of the green in Sydney, but Queensland found themselves with a man in the sin bin in the lead up to halftime as the style of game flipped on the back of the officiating.
With Queensland giving away multiple six agains close to the tryline in the run to halftime, Kaufusi found himself in the sin bin for repeat infringements, a decision that drew the immediate ire of Queensland fans and captain Daly Cherry-Evans.
While he was left to remonstrate on-field, Brad Fittler said during his post-match press conference that he believed the decision was correct and warranted.
Cherry-Evans, on the other hand, said he though the sin bin came far too quickly.
โI thought the decision was made quickly,โ he said.
Despite that, the Queensland captain said the officiating wasn't high on his list of priorities post-game.
โ(The officiating) is not the first thing I thought of when I came off, no. Weโll have a look at it but weโre thinking about what we did wrong," he added.
Coach Billy Slater agreed with him, suggesting he would need to review the events on-field, but wouldn't use the officiating from Klein and bunker official Grant Atkins as an excuse.
โIโll have to go back and look at the penalties individually but thatโs the refereeโs job, theyโll review their own game. Iโve got my job to think about so we wonโt use that as an excuse," Slater said.
โIโll have to have a look at that. Weโll look at how itโs officiated and play to that standard but Iโm not here to talk about the referee.
โFatigue is a part of the game and when you go down to 12 men your team is a lot more fatigued. That contributed but that is the game.โ
Fittler, for his part, said he believed the game was played "a lot more similar" when it came to pace of ruck between the two teams, something he believes the Blues were given the rough end of the stick within the series opener in Sydney.
โThe time in the play the ball were a lot more similar,โ Fittler said.
โI thought they pushed the ref (in game one) and he allowed it. But on our side it was more our effort so it was a criticism of us more so than anyone else and I thought they were a lot better tonight.โ
The two teams will now head to Brisbane for Game 3 in Brisbane on July 13.
