St George Illawarra Dragons head coach Shane Flanagan has become the latest NRL head coach to take exception with refereeing and risk a sanction.
The Dragons, who at one stage led the Cronulla Sharks 18 points to 6 on Thursday evening, found themselves on the back foot through much of the second half on Thursday evening to trail 24 points to 18 with just over five minutes to play.
A short kick-off after a penalty goal appeared to have won the Red V the ball back, however, with Moses Suli clearly beyond the 40-metre line before knocking the ball backwards to a teammate.
Referee Grant Atkins, however, standing in line with the play, ruled the ball never broke the ten-metre plane, and instead awarded the Sharks a penalty on halfway.
St George Illawarra would have had a chance to go on the attack and level the game up with a set in Cronulla's half, but instead had to defend their own line and would conceed another try during the dying moments of the game to confirm a win for the black, white and blue after two straight losses.
Flanagan took exception to the decision post-game, saying he was 'amazed' at some of the decisions throughout the contest, with other moments of controversy also raising eyebrows for fans.
"There were some decisions that I was amazed at," Flanagan said during his post-game press conference.
"You were watching it, weren't you? There was a kick-off that you should watch again.
"There's a red line there called the 40-metre line, and Moses Suli was on the other side of the 40-metre line.
"You can watch it."
The loss leaves the Dragons in a difficult spot, with it being their second straight game without success ahead of next weekend's bye.
The Red V sit in 12th spot on the ladder, albeit still only a single point out of the top eight, but they could drop as far as 14th by the end of Round 15.
