Todd Payten was flabbergasted at the Reuben Cotter sin bin that threatened to cost his side their gutsy 18-12 Magic Round win over the Roosters.

The Cowboys had already fought to deny the Roosters with Matt Lodge sin-binned earlier in the game and then had to defend for another 10 minutes without Cotter.

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The Bunker ruled Cotter had taken Sam Walker out without the ball in the act of scoring, but despite not ruling a penalty try, he marched the Cowboys skipper despite minimal contact.

Payten was careful not to take away from one of the grittiest wins of his side’s career, but was stunned by the decision post match.

“I think if you slow it down like they do it is very hard to come up with the right call,” Payten said.

“At normal speed I just asked them to watch that at normal speed because if you slow it down like they did you are going to find something wrong with it.

“I’ll ask some questions, but I don’t want to take away from how tough and gritty we were by making too harsh a comment.”

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Todd Payten and Reuben Cotter.Source: FOX SPORTS

However, in a contract year, Payten conceded those type of calls can define seasons, top eight finishes and coaching careers.

“Yep they do and they have a huge impact on the game,” Payten said.

“Off the back of that work and effort we put in we are going to have to look at how we train this week and manipulate what we do, but that’s another by-product of those type of calls.

“Playing with 12 men for 20 minutes is hard to do.”

Cotter was equally dumbfounded over the decision both on the field and post match.

“I thought he had the ball,” Cotter said as he was marched for 10.

“No he didn’t. You grabbed him, denying him (a chance) to get the ball,” referee Todd Smith replied. 

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Cotter expanded post match: “I don’t reckon it was (a sin bin). Play it at real speed… maybe a penalty but definitely not a sin bin.

“I didn’t see him kick it initially, but I wasn’t happy with the call.

“I thought it might be a penalty, but definitely not a sin bin.”

Commentators Dan Ginnane and Greg Alexander were full of support for the Cowboys over the horror decision and called for those type of replays to be shown at full speed.

“Oh my goodness. That is brutal… that is a cruel call for the Cowboys,” Ginnane said.

“You know when you see a professional foul.” 

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Alexander added: “Maybe we should look at those situations in normal speed… as it happened live, at normal speed, it happens all at once.

“The game isn’t played in super slo-mo. The cameras are great. But to use that to make a decision? No.”