Penrith were controversially knocked out of the NRL Nines when a clear no-try was awarded to St George Illawarra rookie Cody Ramsey in the dying seconds of their quarter-final.
Ramsey was awarded his third try of the match in the 17-14 win, but replays showed the ball was planted in touch at HBF Stadium on Saturday.
NRL video referee technology is not used in the Nines format.
“It’s one of those 50-50 calls and hopefully we get a couple of 50-50s during the season to pay us back for that,” said Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary.
“I thought we didn’t play our best game and we put ourselves in that position ultimately.
“I thought we could have built in and given it a red hot crack but that’s not the way it goes, and good luck to the Dragons.”
While the loss was disappointing for the Panthers, Ramsey was thrilled to score a hat-trick on his 20th birthday.
“I thought I got it in, but that’s the refs call and I can’t do anything about it. It’s not up to me,” he said after the game.
Signed on a train and trial contract, the emerging young fullback was awarded the club’s under-20s player of the year award in 2019 and is pushing to land a full-time deal with the club.
“The coaches just said: ‘You play your own football, we’ve been watching you at training and you’ve been going good’,” he said.
“They just told me to try hard and I’ve just been in the right position at the right time. I get a bit more space (in Nines) to run and a bit more freedom to use my pace.”
The Dragons will now play Parramatta in the semi-finals after the Eels knocked out Newcastle 14-7.
The Gold Coast remain undefeated for new coach Justin Holbrook after thumping Manly 24-0 in the quarter-finals.
They will take on North Queensland, who are also yet to lose a game this tournament, for a place in the grand final.