Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson has slammed a 'soft' call by the NRL bunker to not award Lindsay Collins a try at the back-end of the club's loss to the Cronulla Sharks on Friday evening.
The game, which ultimately finished 22 points to 12, saw the Roosters with the ability to push for a win at one stage, however, Queensland State of Origin prop Collins was denied a try despite some angles appearing to show the ball on the tryline.
"It's disappointing. Lindsay's try was disappointing. To miss that, he is 100 per cent sure he scored it. It looked like it was on the line. [Brandon] Smith saw it. To not get that was really disappointing, and then we couldn't hold them at the end there," Roosters' coach Trent Robinson said post game.
Robinson elaborated that he felt like the on-field officials missed the try, and the bunker refused to over rule, labelling it a 'soft call.'
"I think they missed it. I feel like the way that Lindsay lunged late and got there, they got surprised by it. Therefore, the bunker needed to look at that. It was pretty clear from the angles that I saw - the ball was on the line. I thought it was a poor excuse to support the on-field decision. There was enough angles there with the ball on the line," Robinson said.
"That's the role of that. If they miss it on the field, which they did because they were surprised by it. There was no negative reaction from the opposition and then they just make a soft call."
The Sharks would ultimately score a late try through Briton Nikora to ice the game, while Brandon Smith and Victor Radley both finished the game with sit downs in the sin bin.
Sharks' coach Craig Fitzgibbon couldn't be drawn for comment over the decision, but simply seemed to suggest things will even out over the course of the season, while also reminding that Brandon Smith had a try awarded during the first half which was also tight.
"It's fine margins right? Did Brandon Smith get there? It could have gone either way on both. Ronny [Ronaldo Mulitalo's] foot on the sideline is the same thing. It happens, it's a game of inches," Fitzgibbon said.
"Clearly, you're biased for your own team when that happens, so you watch it and think it's no try right, so I'm not going to answer that."
It was a game where the Roosters ultimately lost the penalty count 14-4 and had three players sent to the sin bin throughout the course of the 80 minutes.
Captain James Tedesco was in a running battle with referee Adam Gee for much of the evening, with the Roosters unable to reverse the tide of penalties for the home side.
Despite the numbers and sin bin count, Robinson said he believed his team wasn't that ill-disciplined.
"I don't feel like [we were that ill-diciplined]," Robinson said.
"There were a couple of sin bins there. I feel like at 12-all we were right in the battle."
The loss leaves the Roosters with a three and three record, but sitting outside of the top eight ahead of their traditional ANZAC Day clash with the St George Illawarra Dragons, while the Sharks have the same record, but, in a sign of how close the competition is, sit in fifth spot on for and against.
