Wests Tigers coach Ivan Cleary says his team were wronged by the golden-point deciding penalty that ended their giant-killing run in a 9-7 loss to Brisbane.
The cool boot of Broncos rookie Jamayne Isaako landed four penalty goals and a field goal to win the match for Brisbane after a tough extra-time call against forward Robbie Rochow.
In a bitter night for the Tigers at Campbelltown, star five-eighth Benji Marshall left the ground in a moon boot and was sent for scans on an injured left ankle after he played on one leg for the last 20 minutes.
But the Tigers were furious after Rochow and Pita Godinet peeled away from a fifth tackle on Joe Ofahengaue on their 30m line with three minutes to play in golden point.
Rochow was ruled not square at marker as he rushed to pressure an attempted field goal from Isaako, even though Godinet appeared to be the offending man and had no impact on the next play.
The Broncos winger iced the penalty shot from in front to win the match.
“There’s one thing, do you give penalties in golden point, which historically you don’t,” Cleary said.
“And the other thing is, was it a penalty and I don’t think it was. We all make mistakes but that’s a big one.
“You could tell by the way the Broncos guys reacted, it was almost as if they were embarrassed to win.
“It throws golden point into a whole new light because, was that a spectacle when the game finishes like that tonight because of that?”
The result capped off a gutsy effort from the Broncos, who entered golden point with just one man on the bench and Tevita Pangai set to miss a match with a hamstring injury.
But it also brought to an end the Tigers’ unbeaten season run, after they knocked off the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne in the opening two rounds.
They looked set to add a third member of last year’s top four to their list with little over five minutes to play after a Michael Chee-Kam try from a Luke Brooks grubber had given them a 6-4 lead.
But the match turned when Chris Lawrence was penalised for a second effort on Darius Boyd after an Isaako break in the 75th minute.
Isaako then booted his third penalty goal of the night from 32m out and seven metres in from touch to level the scores at 6-6 with less than five minutes to play.
The winger backed the effort up moments later with a 25m field goal from in front to give the Broncos a 7-6 lead before Brooks responded in kind to send the match to golden point.
The match marked the first time the Tigers had kept a side try-less since round 13, 2012 against Canberra but it meant little as Isaako sent home all nine of Brisbane’s points.
“It was a bit crazy,” Broncos coach Wayne Bennett said.
“The goal kick from the sideline was a crucial one and the last one wouldn’t have been easy either with the pressure on.”