Cowboys coach Paul Green fears another refereeing finals blunder

THEY’VE got the short end of the stick several times in the finals and Cowboys coach Paul Green fears that referees could again cost his team in September

1st NRL Semi Final - Roosters v Cowboys

COWBOYS coach Paul Green fears a refereeing mistake could again be a finals killer after he discovered a glaring error in their loss to South Sydney.

The Cowboys must defeat the Warriors in Auckland for any chance at winning the club’s first minor premiership.

The Cowboys have lost their past two games and Green has acknowledged on each occasion they were beaten by the better team.

However, he did contact NRL referees boss Tony Archer regarding incorrect rulings and referee time wasting in their loss to South Sydney.

Green said simple errors were creeping into the performances of officials.

The NRL told The Courier-Mail on Friday that Ben Cummins did make a mistake in not awarding a penalty for Luke Keary’s shoulder charge on Justin O’Neill last week.

It was one of several strange refereeing decisions from Cummins who was overly pedantic in some area and too relaxed in others.

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“The coaches just want consistency,” Green told The Courier-Mail.

“I’ve made my point to Arch. There were some glaring errors.

“In those bigger games and the finals, I don’t think the fans or teams want to see high penalty counts, they want to see the game flow.

“Momentum is a big thing, they are big calls, I just want to know what the rules are and make sure they are consistent.

“Most Origin games you get that flow and we didn’t get that last week.

“We won the penalty count 10-8 but I just felt the game didn’t get into a good flow.

“There’s two good sides, plenty to play for, I just felt there wasn’t any rhythm in the game.”

Green said the shoulder charge rule was confusing as were the rules surrounding tackling players in the act of kicking.

NRL teams have been relentless in hitting Johnathan Thurston while he is kicking, often midair, this year.

“I just need to know what the rules are,” Green said.

“That’s the issue I had last week, particularly on challenges on kickers.

“It is a way to pressure playmakers and if that is how our playmakers are going to get targeted and that’s allowed then we will do the same.

“Everyone is confused about shoulder charges.

“If we all go back to the Kane Evans situation, what confused everyone is that no one doubted it was a shoulder charge yet he didn’t get charged.

“I am not sure what to make of it. My advice to my players is don’t do it (shoulder charge).”

Green said the Warriors remained a formidable opponent despite dreadful form that has seen drop from four spot early last month to tenth.

“Despite the experience they are missing we will need to be on our game. We have had two losses,” Green said.

“We need a win, we need to get back into a winning habit.

“You want to improve your game continually, so leading into the finals your game is where it should be.”

Originally published as Cowboys coach Paul Green fears another refereeing finals blunder