Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has stressed his desire for on-field referee decisions to have more weight following his side's tight win against the Newcastle Knights.
The Raiders edged out their opponents 20-18 on Sunday afternoon, with Hudson Young scoring a crafty solo try to secure the two points in the dying stages.
It was a topsy-turvy match that saw the Knights claw back from a 14-6 halftime deficit, before eventually letting their lead slip.
Speaking after the game, Stuart was less than impressed by the decision to sin bin Elliott Whitehead, with the Englishman given his marching order in the second-half following a late shot on Kalyn Ponga.
On-field referee Ashley Klein didn't penalise Whitehead immediately but made the decision following a review.
"I don't believe it was a sin bin. It could have cost us," Stuart said.
"To answer that from an emotional point of view ... I believe Ashley [Klein] got it right.
"But then there's someone in his ear telling him [Eliott Whitehead] has got to get sin-binned.
"So whoever the bloke is in his ear telling him he has got to be sin-binned is wrong.
"That's why we're talking about the interpretation on the ground.
"I think it's messy and it's going backwards in regards to wanting to see the standard of the game from an attacking point of view."
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Stuart then went on the assess a different event involving Whitehead, arguing that the initial on-field decision was also correct in this instance.
"I think Ashley got it right where Elliott got pinned for that strip and was happy to play on," he added.
"Because [Anthony Milford] fell into Elliott and gave him the ball. Ashley got that right.
"But I'll bet my bottom dollar somebody was in his ear and said that was a strip.
"I think we've got to give the referees a little bit more ability to make their gut decisions.
"Ashley is one of the most experienced referees in the competition. And he got those two calls right."
Outside of the refereeing decisions, Stuart admitted that it wasn't a pretty performance from his side.
He did, however, praise the efforts of match-winner Hudson Young, who executed a clever solo kick-and-chase to cap off a wild game.
"I don't think you would have liked to have heard what I said in the box when [Young] kicked it on tackle three," he jokingly said.
"But I did say 'good try' straight away after it.
"I love coaching Hudson. He gets a bad rap for the way he plays in regards to people thinking he's an angry man and whatnot. But that couldn't be further from the truth.
"He's really nice, a good bloke to coach. He's also a competitor, he's always in your face and he loves his footy.
"He's one of those guys who loves to read about the footy, he loves to read about other teams and other players and he's just a very passionate kid.
"I'm happy for him at the moment because he is playing good footy."
