Ugly truth for Storm and Dragons fans amid claims they were both 'robbed'
Dragons and Storm fans were both left crying foul on Saturday night amid claims they were 'robbed' by contentious calls in their NRL losses to the Bulldogs and Sea Eagles. For the Dragons it was what Shane Flanagan described as an 'outrageous' penalty given to the Bulldogs that allowed them to march downfield and score the match-winning try at the death.
And it was also a penalty awarded to Manly that had Melbourne fans up in arms. But in both instances, one could make a very good argument they both had themselves to blame.
I'm a diehard Dragons fan, and I completely agree the Bunker got it wrong when Luciano Leilua was deemed to have crowded the ruck and caused Jacob Kiraz to lose the ball with five minutes to play. Leilua was simply standing up rather than "moving his foot forward" as the Bunker official claimed, and Kiraz should have paid the price for showing no care for the ball while trying to play it quickly. It also looked like Kiraz didn't get to his feet properly before trying to play it.
Kiraz is on his knees and tries to play the ball I thought that wasn't allowed ?#NRLBulldogsDragons pic.twitter.com/klkYAn0czF
— ClippersSeason (@FunnyCants) July 19, 2025
What should have been a knock-on and Dragons ball in good field position was instead a Bulldogs penalty that allowed them to go downfield and score the winner. But the truth of the matter is the Dragons still should have won if not for a couple of diabolical decisions they made.
Corey Allan inexplicably dived back into his own in-goal with three minutes remaining to force a line drop-out, rather than diving forward into the field of play to retain possession. Captain Clint Gutherson then made a questionable decision to attempt a short drop-out rather than pump it long - gifting the Bulldogs the ball just 10m out when it didn't go the distance.
Why on earth Gutherson didn't go for a long drop-out and make the Bulldogs try and score from long-range is anyone's guess. Not to mention Tyrell Sloan rushing in from his wing and leaving Jethro Rinakama unmarked to score the match-winning try.
Jethro Rinakama scores the match-winner! 🤯Telstra Moment of the Match pic.twitter.com/Q3rYHsSHgT
— NRL (@NRL) July 19, 2025
Dragons' poor decision-making late in games
The penalty call on the Kiraz dropped ball was a shocker, but the Dragons shot themselves in the foot with how they responded. They've lost three games by a single point this season, and another by two points. At times they've been desperately unlucky, but their decision-making late in games hasn't been good enough.
They were certifiably robbed in Round 18 against Canberra when a try was disallowed for a forward pass that was nowhere near forward, which saw the touch-judge axed for the remainder of the season. But Saturday night's loss to the Bulldogs wasn't the same.
Damien Cook also questioned a try that was disallowed for Sloan pushing Rinakama in the back. But the Dragons winger has gotten away with the same act multiple times this season, and it caught up with him on Saturday night.
Bunker got it exactly right to penalise Harry Grant
As for the Storm, the Bunker official got it exactly right when he pinged Harry Grant for running through the kicking leg of Luke Brooks on an attempted field-goal. The ensuing penalty allowed the Sea Eagles to kick two points for a 20-18 victory.
Storm fans claimed it was a soft penalty and questioned the rule, but Lachlan Ilias' broken leg last year shows why it's needed. And once again the Storm only had themselves to blame.
Nelson Asofa-Solomona's elbow to the head of Jake Simpkin proved a game-changing moment when a try for Grant was overturned because of it. If Asofa-Solomona hadn't lashed out, the Storm would have reduced the deficit and gone on to win.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy admitted his side's ill-discipline was a bigger factor than any refereeing decision. 'You just see the error rate, at half-time our completions was 65 per cent and theirs was 92 per cent or something, so it's hard to be competitive if you're completing at that and the opposition is completing at that high rate,' Bellamy said.
'I don't know whether we were looking for a soft performance, but having said that, you've got to give a lot of credit to Manly too. How we started, it's like we were looking for short cuts straight away."
On the Grant penalty late in the game, the Storm coach said: "I suppose, within what the rules say, that's what it was."
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