St George-Illawarra Dragons coach Anthony Griffin has brushed aside any concerns regarding a potential last-minute penalty in his side's 24-22 defeat to the Canberra Raiders.
Mat Feagai made a line break in the dying stages and was being tackled as the clock expired, leading to a debate over whether the Raiders defenders released from the tackle quickly enough.
The incident quickly drew comparisons to a similarly controversial moment when the teams met earlier this season, which saw Ricky Stuart left furious over a late call.
When asked if he had any qualms with the refereeing in the final moments of the game, the Dragons' veteran coach was blunt in his response.
"No," Griffin said.
"It's probably a little bit ironic compared to the first game [against the Raiders this season].
"We just ran out of time. It was a fantastic line break at that time of the game ... we just needed one more play-the-ball.
"But that's the way the world works."
Trailing 24-12 in the second half, Ben Hunt's 20/40 sparked the Dragons back into life, with Talatau Amone and Tautau Moga both scoring late.
However, their comeback fell just short, with Zac Lomax failing to convert Moga's try from the sideline.
Despite the narrow loss - which effectively ends the Dragons' finals chances for this season - Griffin was pleased with his team's attitude.
"We're very proud of the effort. At different times the game was going against us - we had to do most of the defence with our field position in the second half to keep ourselves in the game," he said.
"I just thought it was a fantastic effort.
"Unfortunately, in the last couple of weeks in particular ... we just gave [Cronulla and Canberra] their points too easily at different times and it was too hard to reel back in."
Match Highlights - #NRLRaidersDragons 🎥
— NRL (@NRL) August 14, 2022
The Raiders survived a late comeback from a spirited Dragons side to escape with a 24-22 win! pic.twitter.com/N7SxE7AgOi
The result did come with a silver lining for the Dragons, with Talatau Amone claiming his first NRL hat-trick.
The 20-year-old five-eighth also notched a try assist in arguably his best game for the club.
"I thought he was outstanding," Griffin said.
"It's been a tough year for Junior [Amone] - it's his first year being a full-time, starting five-eighth in the NRL.
"And I thought today, in obviously our most important game of the year, he really stood up, which is great."
Dragons captain Ben Hunt also spoke positively about his halves partner.
"He's really exciting," Hunt said.
"I really encourage him to get the ball more and take the game on and I think there were good signs tonight for him tonight.
"The more he backs himself, the better he's going to be."
