'They need to know the rules': Leeds Rhinos boss Brad Arthur critical of officials after late loss to Warrington Wolves
Leeds Rhinos head coach Brad Arthur questioned referee Tom Grant after a bizarre finish to Friday’s game at Warrington Wolves.
The official called time with nine seconds still remaining on the clock, claiming the visitors – who had lost Keenan Palasia to a yellow card – had failed to set correctly for the scrum.
It denied the visitors one last play and confirmed a 16-14 defeat for Arthur’s side.
A bewildered Arthur said: “We only had 12 players on the field, but our players got told we only had five in the scrum and that’s why we couldn’t pack.
“We still have (nine) seconds. The likelihood of us winning from there is remote, but it doesn’t matter. You can’t just blow time out. They need to know the rules.”
Arthur was more guarded on Palasia’s late sin-binning, which indirectly led to Jake Thewlis scoring the winner on the next play.
“I’ve seen plenty of them before – so as long as they’re consistent,” shrugged Arthur. “They’ve got all the angles, and I don’t know to tell you the truth.”
Arthur feels his Rhinos side are still very much a work in progress, and bemoaned small errors at crucial moments that he believed ultimately cost them a hard-earned win.
“It was a very good effort,” added Arthur. “We were physically really good in the first half and showed plenty of fighting spirit. Just in the end probably in the second half we gave away too many errors and penalties.”
Thewlis’s effort secured a second straight win for Warrington, who had come in for some criticism from Burgess for the manner of some of their early-season displays, not least their Las Vegas capitulation to Wigan Warriors.
Burgess added: “There’s been a lot of people doubting us when we’re in round six, but we’re not even getting started yet.
“Nothing’s changed at this club, we had a tough start to the year for a lot of different reasons but I knew we’d get back on track.
“We’re still miles away from where we need to be, but we’re fine-tuning as we go. I’m really proud of their efforts tonight because it was a high-quality game and we needed something special to win.”