'The most unprofessional thing I’ve ever seen': Warriors coach tees off over controversial incident
Warriors coach Andrew Webster has launched a rare criticism of referee Gerard Sutton, taking aim at his handling of a controversial moment during his side’s tense 10-8 defeat to the Cronulla Sharks in Auckland.
Midway through the first half of Saturday night’s contest, Chanel Harris-Tavita was preparing for a goal-line dropout and asked Sutton how long remained on the shot clock.
Sutton replied: “Five seconds”, but less than two seconds later, as Harris-Tavita kicked, the buzzer sounded and the Warriors were penalised, handing the Sharks a penalty right in front of the posts.
Despite protests from Warriors captain Wayde Egan, Sutton was unmoved.
“That’s not my problem. If the buzzer goes and you haven’t kicked it, it’s a penalty,” Sutton said.
Braydon Trindall went on to kick the resulting penalty goal, which proved decisive in the Warriors’ second straight defeat.
Under NRL rules, teams have 25 seconds to complete a goal-line or 20m dropout after the referee has signalled that the drop-out clock has started.
Webster did not want to blame the loss on that single moment, but the usually reserved coach made it clear he was unhappy, labelling the incident “embarrassing”.
“If the referee tells you you’ve got five seconds and you kick it in two, well, five minus two is three. They’ve got three seconds left,” Webster said.
“Gifted them two points because professionalism around they don’t even know how long to go. When you ask the question because you can’t see it on the clock and the response is ‘you’ve got five seconds’ and you kick it in two, I never blow up [but] that’s embarrassing.”
Webster felt common sense would have prevailed considering the circumstances.
“The Sharks were awesome tonight. Both teams were awesome. But you just don’t need this,” Webster said.
“If someone makes a bad refereeing decision, or a call because they thought it was forward and it wasn’t, that stuff happens. But when we can’t even get the game clock right, that’s just the most unprofessional thing for the game I’ve ever seen.”
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon wasn’t interested in discussing the matter.
“If you want me to start complaining about what goes against us, man, we’ll be sitting here for a while, so I don’t care,” Fitzgibbon said.
Webster felt his side lost the key moments, highlighting Will Kennedy charging down Te Maire Martin’s field goal attempt, before Trindall slotted the game-winning field goal from 45m out.
“It’s pretty classy, isn’t it? That’s where the game was separated,” Webster said. “They took their moments at the end.
“Hats off to the Sharks. It probably wasn’t like the best attacking game of footy to watch, but if you wanted to see two teams going at it, I thought both teams were awesome.
“I thought our young guys moved so well tonight and really showed that they’re up to it.”
Despite the loss, the Warriors remain second in the standings on 22 points, although there are now five teams just two points behind them in the standings.
Ben Francis is an Auckland-based reporter for the New Zealand Herald who covers breaking sports news.
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
Get the iHeart App
Get more of the radio, music and podcasts you love with the FREE iHeart app. Scan the QR code to download now.
Download from the app stores
Stream unlimited music, thousands of radio stations and podcasts all in one app. iHeart is easy to use and all FREE
