ADRIAN LAM was raging about the officiating after his Leigh team drew 22-22 at Hull FC, saying it can put a coach’s job on the line.
Hull’s Lewis Martin was awarded a try late in normal time to level the score but the Leigh head coach felt that it should not have been given.
Lam said: “It was never a try in million years. I’ve looked at the video 100 times and the foot is out.
“What are we doing? My job is on the line when we don’t get those decisions right.”
He added: “In the decision making, when they went for the captain’s challenge, if it’s inconclusive, isn’t that an unsuccessful challenge? Don’t you lose the challenge then? How can you be ‘inconclusive’?
“If the third ref can’t get it right maybe he can pass that on to another referee in another box somewhere else to make the decision. If it’s inconclusive there, why don’t we go to an eye in the sky and make the decision somewhere else?”
Lam called the result “probably fair”, crediting Hull’s courage but admitting his team need to improve their discipline.
Hull FC head coach John Cartwright said he felt “drained” after the thrilling contest and had mixed emotions about the final score – but saw the positives too.
Cartwright said: “You don’t know what you’ve got until you’re under real pressure. And they were under real pressure against a really good side.
“My phone is full of messages, full of compliments for our boys and the courage they displayed.
“Our challenge is to keep replicating that. I thought with the ball it’s the best we’ve been.”
On the high amount of video ref involvement, he said: “I’m not sure they’ve got the camera angles that they do overseas. I’ve heard that may be a bit of an issue. They’re not going to be able to change that any time soon.
“It seems they’re just not willing to make a decision. It always gets referred back to the referee.
“I’m happy to get rid of it. It’s not going to happen but most decisions go back to not conclusive; nothing is conclusive because it depends what angle you look at it from. You’ve just got to make a decision and move forward with it.”