Wade Graham accused of lying to gain crucial golden point advantage in Titans v Sharks draw

UPDATE: The NRL has stayed clear of the coin-toss controversy, claiming Wade Graham’s controversial “tails” call could not be heard in referee microphone recordings.

Wade Graham runs the ball for the Sharks.

UPDATE: The NRL has stayed clear of the coin-toss controversy, claiming Wade Graham’s controversial “tails” call could not be heard in referee microphone recordings.

Titans captain Ryan James claimed Cronulla’s Graham “lied” during the coin-toss before golden-point of Monday night’s thrilling 18-all draw at Cbus Super Stadium.

James alleged Graham called “tails”, the coin landed on heads and Graham then claimed he had originally called “heads”, prompting referee Alan Shortall to order a re-toss which Graham won.

“We’ve reviewed the matter. Assistant referee Alan Shortall conducted the golden point coin toss and did not hear a call from Wade Graham,” an NRL spokesman said.

“A review of the communications has confirmed that there was no audible call from Wade Graham.

“The coin toss was retaken as a result.”

Graham told reporters post-game he could not remember what happened.

“You’ll have to check the tape on that one mate, I can’t really remember. It was all happening,” he told NRL.com

Fox Sports News will air footage and audio of the controversial moment on Tuesday afternoon.

The Titans brought an end to Cronulla’s 15-game winning streak in front of a bumper crowd of 14,918 at Cbus Super Stadium and kept their dreams of a drought-breaking finals berth alive.

However, James was left fuming following the mix-up before extra-time.

“I won the coin toss and had to toss it again because Wade Graham lied,” James fired.

“I flipped it, he called ‘tails’ and it landed on heads and the ref made me do it again because Wade said he called ‘heads’ but he called tails.

“It should have been us receiving (the ball) but we had to kick off. We would have had an extra set. That’s a massive play.

“Having to flip the coin toss twice at the end when you win it is ridiculous.

“All (the referee) had to do was listen to his thing and go up to The Bunker that comes in at every other play. I was frustrated at that.”

Titans coach Neil Henry was seething after a number of dubious refereeing decisions and Sharks mentor Shane Flanagan labelled golden-point a “joke” following nine missed field-goal attempts and countless offside plays.

“It’s an absolute lottery,” Flanagan said.

“They were all offside. We were all offside. It’s an absolute joke.

“Throw all the rules out because there are no rules in golden point.”

The Sharks were in cruise control at 12-nil only to watch the gallant Titans claw their way back into the contest and take an 18-12 lead.

The Sharks missed five field goal attempts in extra-time while Titans halfback Ashley Taylor’s four attempts also failed.

It is too early to know what the draw will mean in the Gold Coast’s quest to play finals for the first time since 2010 and they have injury concerns around crucial trio Nathan Peats (hamstring), Konrad Hurrell (calf) and Tyrone Roberts (knee).

The Titans are sitting on 23 points with five games to play, starting with a blockbuster against their bogey side New Zealand at Cbus Super Stadium on Sunday.

The cut-off for the top eight is generally 28 points, meaning the Titans will have to win three of their final five matches to guarantee a play-offs berth.

However Parramatta being stripped of 12 competition points for salary cap breaches could have an impact on the cut-off for the top eight.

Gold Coast featuring in the finals this year seemed like a pipe dream, however they will now be disappointed if they don’t only feature in September but make a serious dent in the premiership race.

The Sharks bounced out to a 12-0 lead through Valentine Holmes and Jack Bird while Titans fullback David Mead sat in the sin-bin for a professional foul.

Chris McQueen, Mead and Anthony Don scored to give the Gold Coast the lead, albeit controversially when Don’s try came on the back of an apparent obstruction play.

The Sharks levelled scores again through Andrew Fifita and neither Taylor nor James Maloney could ice the victory.

GOLD COAST 18 (A Don C McQueen D Mead tries T Roberts 3 goals) drew CRONULLA 18 (J Bird A Fifita V Holmes tries J Maloney 3 goals) after golden-point extra time at Cbus Super Stadium. Referee: Gerard Sutton, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 14,918.

Originally published as Wade Graham accused of lying to gain crucial golden point advantage in Titans v Sharks draw